The end of a once-strong friendship. Former Real Housewives of New Jersey star Robyn Levy opened up about what caused her close bond with Teresa Giudice and Joe Giudice to fizzle out.
“[Teresa] was going to be one of my partners for [my new series] The Facts of Wife, going back years ago. Her and her best friend were going to be my partners. [Her best friend] and I both were working together, and my attorney suggested that Teresa be a third partner on the show,” Levy, 39, told Us Weekly exclusively while promoting her upcoming TV projects. “So, we were equal partners. Then, her best friend was the one that was funding the project. I was doing all the work and Teresa was being, like, the executive producer/celebrity person. We were all just equal partners.”
The reality star continued, “What ended up happening was [her friend] was going through a bad divorce and then she said, ‘My attorney told me that I’m not allowed to start a new business during my divorce,’ because she was getting money from her husband. So I said, ‘OK, well I still want you to be a partner, but we can’t all be equal partners because then who’s funding the project? Like, now I need to go find new financing for the show.’ So as soon as I said that, Teresa and [her friend] wouldn’t [be a part of it anymore]. All three of us were supposed to be partners and then she said she couldn’t fund the project. I wanted her to still be a partner just ‘cause we were doing it all together.”
The former Bravo personality said that “was pretty much the stopping point of our real relationship.” Though she tried calling Teresa, 48, about the matter, she said the conversation “didn’t go well.” She also noted that the Standing Strong author “got more upset” upon learning that Levy was moving on with the project.
Levy went on to have “a totally separate relationship” with Teresa and her now-ex-husband, Joe, before that fell apart as well.
“He was going through a lot and kind of took it out on an easy target,” she explained. “We were super close for many years. Money was the issue at the end of the day.”
Levy previously appeared as a friend of Teresa on The Real Housewives of New Jersey’s seventh season. During her time on the Bravo hit, Levy butted heads with Teresa’s cousin Rosie Pierri.
“I had known Rosie for years, but when she found out the producers wanted to get to know me, she got upset,” Levy told TV Deets in September 2020. “When Teresa filmed [her spinoff show] Teresa Checks In, I was featured because I’m friends with Joe Giudice. I went to their house, he invited me to film and Rosie was also there. The producers met me and told me I should come on Housewives. And then, when I got there, everyone pretended they didn’t know me. And that’s a true story.”
Though she called being on RHONJ “an amazing learning experience,” Levy said that “it just wasn’t right” for her.
Levy is moving on from the past and focusing on her future with her new LGBTQ+ reality series, The Facts Of Wife. She is also working on developing an unscripted docuseries called jewISH, which would follow the lives of Jewish individuals.
“I have an agent now, Marc Kamler from A3 Artists Agency. They’re helping me with all of my shows now. So, [I’m] kind of going for the next level,” she explained to Us, noting that Kamler is partner in unscripted programming at the agency. “I grew up with him in Mountville, [New Jersey], for many years, so I’ve known him for a long time. Now, here we are working together all these years later.”
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With reporting by Diana Cooper
Listen to Ramona Singer tell Us Weekly editors what it was like filming season 13 of ROHNY during COVID-19.
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