Gia Giudice is looking back at The Real Housewives of New Jersey with a much different perspective now.
In a new interview with Elite Daily, Gia opened up about rewatching RHONJ from the beginning and realizing just how much her family, especially her mom Teresa Giudice, has given to the show over the years.
Over the past year, Gia has been documenting her RHONJ rewatch on TikTok, referring to the old episodes as “home videos.” While some moments have been funny and nostalgic, others have been painful for her to relive.
“I never really watched it from the beginning before. But I realized, ‘OK. If I’m binge-watching Salt Lake City, I should start my mom’s,’” Gia said.
Gia admitted that some episodes have made her laugh, including one memorable scene where Teresa took her bra shopping as a child.
“I had no boobs, and I wanted a bra so bad,” Gia said.
But not every episode has been easy to watch back. Seeing the emotional moments involving her parents, her sisters and the family’s legal struggles has given Gia a deeper appreciation for what Teresa has endured while filming RHONJ.
“Watching it made me realize how much my mom has given to this show. She’s given absolutely everything,” Gia said.
Gia explained that watching her family’s hardest moments play out again still hurts, even years later.
“Watching those moments, I cry at all of them,” Gia shared. “That sting never goes away when you’re watching your family’s trauma back.”
One of the hardest seasons for Gia to revisit was Season 10, which followed Joe Giudice’s release from prison and the heartbreaking reality of his deportation.
After watching that chapter back, Gia said she had to take a break.
“My dad was deported. It was just a lot,” Gia said. “I was in this mindset where I really thought he was going to come home, even if he had to fight it in front of the Supreme Court.”
Gia was still in high school during that time, and looking back now, she admits she has regrets about how she processed everything. At the time, Gia was focused on how much her father was missing in her own life, including major milestones like graduation and prom.
But now, as an adult, she sees the situation through a more compassionate lens, especially when it comes to her younger sisters.
“I was very ‘me, me, me.’ It was my senior year of high school. I was so focused on him missing my graduation, my prom, all these milestones,” Gia said. “Looking back, that was so selfish of me. My younger sisters — Audriana was a baby and grew up with no dad, and Milania and Gabriella were so young, too — I had so many more years than them.”
Gia’s comments show a lot of maturity. Instead of blaming herself harshly, she seems to be recognizing that she was a teenager trying to survive something deeply painful, public and complicated.
At the time, Gia was dealing with her father being away, her family being under constant scrutiny and her most emotional moments being filmed for television. Now, watching it back as an adult, she is able to see not only her own pain, but also what her sisters lost.
The reflection also highlights how much RHONJ has captured beyond typical reality TV drama. For the Giudice family, the show documented real trauma, including prison time, deportation, divorce, grief and major family changes.
Gia has often been praised by fans for how strong she was during those years. She stepped up for her younger sisters, supported her mom and became one of the most recognizable Housewives children in the franchise.