In the famous words of Teresa Giudice, “Haters are gonna hate, but I just love, love, love.”
While she isn’t using the L-word just yet, the Real Housewives of New Jersey star has a new romance in her life after splitting from longtime husband Joe Giudice last year. In November, she teased her man to fans, writing on Facebook, “Excited to reveal my new boyfriend.” E! News later learned her is Luis “Louie” Ruelas, a businessman, fellow New Jerseyan and father of two.
While appearing remotely on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen on Sunday, Nov. 22, the reality star dished a bit more about their blossoming relationship. “It’s fairly new,” Teresa told Andy Cohen, “so I’m taking things slow and we’ll see where it goes from there.”
As for her divorce from Joe, who was deported to Italy, it’s not quite finalized just yet. “I’m still waiting for the date from the court,” she clarified. “All the paperwork is all done. We’re just waiting for a court date—because of COVID, it’s taking forever.”
In September, divorce lawyer Vikki Ziegler told E! News, “Teresa and Joe made their family a priority, mediating their marital matters despite Covid -19 and the logistics of Joe living out of the country. They both compromised and were ready to start a new chapter focusing on the wellbeing of their girls, whom they both love so much.”
She continued, “It was refreshing to see a couple who have been through so much work together through emotional topics obtaining the best outcome for their entire family. They can both be very proud of each other.”
Teresa’s relationship with Luis marks the first she’s made public since filing for divorce last year after 20 years of marriage. As for Joe, he recently got a visit from two of their four daughters—Gia Giudice, 19, and Milania Giudice, 15—for the first time in almost a year.
“What am I going to do, have the kids move here to a country that they don’t even know the language?” Joe told E! News in October. “That would be a disaster. That’ll be even worse. So, the only thing we can do is try to make things the best we can. It’s a shame what they had to go through, those kids. Thank God they’re tough kids, but it’s still a d–n shame. At the end of the day, you know, we’re doing our best.”
