IS IT OVER?
Joe Giudice is free from ICE custody, but now his 20-year marriage to Teresa Giudice may be in peril.
Joe Giudice is a new man — in more ways than one! Teresa Giudice’s husband — who’d been in ICE custody since March following a 41-month stint in prison for fraud — returned to his native Italy on Oct. 11. The slimmed-down Real Housewives of New Jersey star, 47, was practically unrecognizable in a FaceTime screenshot shared by his oldest daughter, Gia, 18 (inset, top). “He is extremely happy to be released, more than words can describe,” the family’s lawyer, James Leonard, said in a statement to Us. “We are still fighting, and it is his desire to return home to the United States to be reunited with his family.”
WHAT’S NEXT? While freedom is no doubt good news for Joe, it could spell disaster for his almost 20-year marriage to Teresa. “I’m not doing a long-distance relationship,” the Real Housewives of New Jersey star, also 47, revealed at the show’s reunion earlier this year. The Standing Strong writer, who served her own 15-month sentence in 2015 after being convicted of fraud, wants her daughters — Gia, Gabriella, 15, Milania, 13, and Audriana, 10 — to maintain a relationship with their dad. In fact, the Giudice girls and their mom are set to reunite with him soon. “Teresa already has a trip to Italy planned,” a source tells Us, adding that it’ll happen soon. Will she make good on her reunion promise? Only time —and some quality days overseas — will tell.