We first met this sassy Italian mama on Bravo’s hit reality TV show The Real Housewives of New Jersey. She is best known for her hot temper and famous table flip. Giudice is a true New Jersey girl, born and raised. She grew up in Paterson, New Jersey, with her parents, who were Italian immigrants, and her brother. Thanks to her popularity on the show, the reality star has written four cookbooks, including Skinny Italian, Fabulicious!, Fabulicious!: Fast and Fit, and Fabulicious!: On the Grill. She has launched a few products, including Youthful 8 Milania Collection for hair, and Fabellini, a bottled bellini imported from Italy. In 2012, Giudice appeared on The Celebrity Apprentice, finishing fifth and raising 70,000 dollars for The Nephcure Foundation.
Giudice met her husband Joe in the town where she grew up. The celebrity couple, who married in 1999, are doting parents to four adorable daughters: Gia, Milania, Gabriella, and Audriana. Although they seemed to be living the perfect life, things started to fall apart when they filed for bankruptcy in 2009; it was soon revealed that they were 11 million dollars in debt. In 2011, the couple made celebrity news when they were charged with 39 counts of mail fraud, tax fraud, and bank fraud, an indictment that carries a sentence of up to 50 years. In October 2014, Giudice was sentenced to 15 months in federal prison; she was released on December 23, 2015 after serving 11 months, and her husband began his 41-month sentence on March 23, 2016.
Since her release from prison, Giudice has written two tell-all memoirs about her experience: Turning the Tables: From Housewife to Inmate and Back Again, a New York Times bestseller, and Standing Strong. She continues to star in The Real Housewives of New Jersey, with the eighth season premiering on October 4, 2017.
