Teresa Giudice Shuts Down Claims She ‘Abandoned’ Gia on Special Forces

Teresa Giudice is no stranger to challenges, from navigating intense drama on The Real Housewives of New Jersey to enduring real-life hardships, she’s done it all in the public eye. But when it came to her daughter Gia, nothing else mattered, not even finishing the grueling competition on Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test.

After her emotional exit from the series, some critics accused Teresa of “abandoning” Gia, who also appeared on the show. But Teresa is setting the record straight.

“I have not abandoned my daughter,” she told TooFab in an interview. “My daughter knows I did not abandon her and we both understand each other. She knows why I left. I would never be able to stand to see that. I knew she was going to be just fine.”

The emotional turning point came when Teresa learned that Gia would be participating in a brutal challenge called “milling,” where contestants are forced to punch each other until told to stop. That’s when the longtime reality star made the decision to bow out.

“I’m always a mom first,” Teresa emphasized. “I’m always thinking about my kids. I would have definitely stepped in if I saw anybody punching my child and I didn’t want to show her that and I didn’t want her to see me fighting either. I just didn’t like that challenge. The whole hitting. I wouldn’t be able to sit there and watch my child get hit.”

Watching from home later, Teresa recalled her visceral reaction to the first episode when Gia was dunked underwater by one of the DS (Directing Staff) instructors. “I was yelling at the TV. If I was there, that would have not been good,” she said.

Still, Teresa made it clear that Gia handled the intense physical challenge with strength and grace. “She did amazing. She did great. She did amazing and I know my child, she’s very strong. I raised her that way.”

For Teresa, the decision to leave wasn’t about weakness, it was about setting an example. “I was trying to think as a mom, ‘What’s the best example? What could I teach my daughter through this?’ And that’s what I wanted to show her. G and I totally understand each other.”

The RHONJ veteran, who has been on the show since 2009, also drew parallels between Special Forces and her reality TV experience. “I’ve been fighting on TV for the past 10 years, trying to always defend myself. If you watched The Real Housewives of New Jersey, I’m just tired of fighting. There’s a lot of things that reminded me of that — defending myself, fighting — it’s just I didn’t want that.”

Despite walking away from the competition, Teresa made it clear this experience tested her like no other.

“This was no comparison, this is the toughest situation I’ve ever been in,” she admitted. “I’m not kidding. This was the toughest, this is the most challenging thing I’ve ever done in my life.”

She didn’t sugarcoat the conditions either: “It was disgusting, absolutely disgusting, mud in my hair. Disgusting conditions, disgusting,” she said — although she did find a bit of humor in it, laughing, “Nobody s–ts the first day. They were all like, ‘You’re so lucky you got [toilet duty] the first day!’”