Teresa Giudice looked back on her most iconic moment of The Real Housewives of New Jersey during an interview earlier this month.
As she also reflected on her potential regrets, her legacy, and her time filming the second season of House of Villains, admitting that the show made her “more villainous,” Teresa, 52, said that she doesn’t enjoy being labeled a “table flipper” following her infamous season one encounter with Danielle Staub, 62.
“When my husband [Luis Ruelas] meets people, they say, ‘Hey, you’re married to the table flipper.’ I don’t want to be known as that, but they love it,” Teresa told Us Weekly on October 1.
“I’m a passionate person. I’m Italian and I reacted just how I felt at that moment. I remember after it aired, they showed it at the Emmys that year. I was at home watching TV and I came on. I was like, ‘Wow,'” she recalled.
As for how she felt immediately after the incident, Teresa confessed to being “upset.”
“[I] thought, ‘Oh my God, what did I do?’ I was calling the producers and, meanwhile, they were jumping up and down,” she shared. “I don’t normally act like that. I got angry because she was attacking my friend. I regretted what I did, but it ended up being so iconic.”
One particular moment she likes looking back on is her trip to Italy, which aired during RHONJ season two.
“My Italy trip because Adriana was 8 months old, and my parents were there; I would love to watch that,” she said.
When it comes to Teresa’s own enjoyment of television, outside of her own show, of course, she said she loves being with her daughters and binge-watching certain shows.
“I love hanging out as a family with my daughters and Louis and getting our favorite snacks while we binge-watch shows,” she revealed.
After 14 seasons of reality television, Teresa said she hoped her legacy would be her candidness.
“Just that I was my authentic, real self. And I hope everyone enjoyed me,” she explained.
During another interview, as she promoted the new season of House of Villains with co-stars Wes Bergmann, 40, and Safaree, 43, Teresa told PEOPLE she’s only a villain when she’s “pushed to be [one].”
“Hanging out with these two in a house, I became more villainous being around them,” she confessed.
Initially, Teresa felt Wes was a big threat due to his success on past seasons of MTV’s The Challenge.
“He definitely knows how to play the game, and he’s definitely strategic,” Teresa shared. “At first, I was like, ‘I’m not going to vibe with this guy,’ because I like friendly people. He wasn’t friendly at first. It took him a little while to warm up, but then I have to say, he became a Housewife.”
During their time together, Teresa said she “learned a lot” from Wes. However, it was threatening others that she planned to do first.
“I only threatened certain people that I knew I had to. It went by the vibe,” she explained. “That was my strategy.”
Also during the interview, Tiffany “New York” Pollard, 42, said it was “amazing” to go to bat with Teresa.
“If I’m going to go against any other community, it’s going to be Jersey,” she said. “I mean, New York meets New Jersey. Jersey, meet New York.”
Going into production, Tiffany knew Teresa “was going to be able to take it.”
“She’s a veteran. She’s been in the business a very long time. And it was fun clashing with her,” Tiffany stated. “She’s a good sport.”
House of Villains season two is currently airing on E!
