In April 2023, Teresa Giudice had a brief run-in with the law. The Riverdale, New Jersey, police officer explained that he pulled her over for swerving lanes and “going a little slow.” While looking for ID, Teresa offered him a “family business card,” which he declined.
The Real Housewives of New Jersey star then told the officer that her seemingly erratic driving may have been due to her unfamiliarity with the navigation system in her new car. She mentioned that the vehicle was a replacement for her stolen Mercedes-Benz.
Saying he was “sorry to hear about that,” he turned away with her driver’s license before she called him back. “I have family business cards, too,” the NY Times best-selling author told the officer.
Just a warning
Saying she needn’t “worry about that,” the officer told Tre she was “all good” before walking to his cruiser. When he returned, he told her he was letting her go with just a “warning.”
The famous table-flipper was effusive with her apologies. She explained her late father used to drive with one hand on the steering wheel, something she learned from him. Not smart, Tre, But then, I don’t think Mensa International is looking to sign her up anytime soon.
Teresa’s longtime attorney James Leonard clarified that the card she offered was one given to her for just such an occasion. It’s a common practice for friends and family to identify themselves as such in a traffic stop. Considered a courtesy for a fellow member of the law enforcement brotherhood to excuse friends and relatives, the policy is ethically questionable but usually works.
“There is no family business card,” the attorney added. “No such card exists or has ever existed. She [had] a New Jersey State PBA [Police Benevolent Association] card that was given to her by an acquaintance.”
The officer most likely pulled the mom of four over suspecting an intoxicated driver. When she didn’t appear to have been drinking, he let her go. Consider yourself lucky, Teresa.
TELL US – DO YOU THINK IT WAS OKAY FOR THE OFFICER TO LET HER GO?
The Below Deck Mediterranean interior team aren’t gelling in Season 8. We’re three episodes in, and the department is in complete disarray. Sure, it might be because chief stew Tumi has only just arrived, but the cause of all the issues? Kyle. Now that he’s actually on the yacht, the chaos has been turned up to 11.
My theory is that he was so stuck on wanting chief stew this season, that he tried to get the rest of the team to self-destruct. For now, it appears to be working. Here’s everything that went down in Below Deck Med Season 8, Episode 3: “We’ve Only Just Begun.”
Tumi’s approach is all wrong
(Photo by: Fred Jagueneau/Bravo via Getty Images)
With the confrontation between Tumi and Natalya from last week starting this episode, audiences were expecting fireworks. Despite that, it seemed to quickly defuse. Tumi asked Natalya to show her the laundry, and explained in confessional how her mother had always taught her to stand up for herself. She faced racist bullies in school, so took the advice to “be kind, but don’t let them walk all over you.” I think she’s well-intentioned, but Kyle telling Tumi she could have problems with Natalya soured her approach towards her before she even stepped on the yacht.
“She’s a f*cking bitch,” Natalya tells bosun Luka and fellow stew Jessika of their first meeting. “Me and her already got into a little tiff.” This gathering of the troops is not cute. Natalya’s panicking that Tumi’s going to run to Captain Sandy and try to get her fired. “There’s no warmthness there.” She meant “warmth,” but the point still lands.
Charter guests with high expectations
(Photo by: Fred Jagueneau/Bravo via Getty Images)
Captain Sandy calls Tumi, Luka, and chef Jack for the second preference sheet meeting of the season. Primary guest Mecca Moore-Henson is the NYC founder of a magazine called Pynk. She’ll be joined on the yacht by her husband and successful friends. There’s a vegan, a lifestyle Jack tried out one afternoon, failing within two hours. Sandy warns there’s bad weather on the way, and the vibe “must be immaculate.” Requests include a Diamonds Forever-themed dinner, followed by a pajama party and, of course, plenty of food and snacks.
Once the meeting’s over, Tumi texts Kyle. She says that Natalya needs to stay in her lane, and she’ll have no problem seeing her leave if she brings out her worst side. What she needs to be worried about is entertaining the guests who are five hours away, with terrible weather looming.
In confessional, Tumi notes that she cannot “piss off the chef.” It’s sound advice, but sadly, not something she can follow. Meanwhile, deckhand Lara is getting frustrated that everybody keeps calling her Laura. I don’t blame her; it’s disrespectful! Haleigh’s also getting bored of being at the dock, hoping for some deck action soon.
Kyle arrives and is firmly in the middle
(Photo by: Charles Sykes/Bravo via Getty Images)
“I am genuinely so excited to see Natalya,” Kyle says before he arrives on the yacht. When he does get on board, the pair enjoy a bear hug. Natalya quickly fills him in on the drama she’s had with Tumi, blissfully unaware that he’s been fed the same information from a different point of view.
Tumi calls the interior team for a meeting. She explains that Kyle will “obviously” be her second due to his experience with service. Natalya takes issue with this, of course. She’ll be third stew dealing with housekeeping and laundry, while Jessika is happy to fall down the totem pole into fourth, as it’s “less stress.”
Natalya carries on bitching, this time to Jack. For his part, he tells her to keep him out of it as he doesn’t want any part of the drama. Good for him. Natalya’s whining is already getting tired.
The new deckhand arrives
(Photo by: Fred Jagueneau/Bravo via Getty Images)
Welcome to the yacht, Max from France! He’ll be giving Luka a run for his money as boat hottie. He’s got four years of yachting experience, and thinks of the entire thing as a “big casino … know when to get out.” He seems harmless and immediately slots in as part of the deck team. It’s nice to see at least one of the departments getting along.
Natalya carries on with her bitching to Kyle, unwilling to give Tumi a chance. It’s exhausting. Kyle then throws Tumi under the bus by revealing the text he got from her about Natalya. I’m not sure where he keeps his stirring spoon, but that was a jackhole move. And entirely in line with my theory. He wants to be chief!
The guests arrive in the pouring rain and blustering wind. Captain Sandy notes there’s “not one smile” between them. That all changes once they’re aboard, and promised by Tumi to be “spoiled.” Let’s see if the crew can deliver…
A “dismal” cheeseboard
(Photo by: Fred Jagueneau/Bravo via Getty Images)
“This is gonna be a rough charter … I can feel it.” Jack’s not wrong. The guests don’t want the cheeseboard he’s prepared, or his cookies. They want a full meal straight out of the gate, which takes him around 45 minutes to prepare. I actually think that’s stellar timing, but he admits he “rushed” when mediocre feedback comes back.
Tumi likes “chaotic” guests, but moans to Kyle that Jack is “so bad” after seeing his cheeseboard. It didn’t look amazing, but she shouldn’t judge so quickly. Kyle then runs all of that back to Natalya, who of course gets in Jack’s ear later in the charter. Natalya should focus on her open relationship. She doesn’t even understand the concept, but is fine letting her boyfriend do whatever he likes? I don’t get how she’s found herself in this position, honestly.
“They are difficult but I’ve had worse,” Tumi tells Sandy of the guests. Sandy already seems to really like having Tumi on board, because she demands “perfection.” Let’s see if that continues!
Tumi’s changing the world
(Photo by: Fred Jagueneau/Bravo via Getty Images)
One of the guests speaks to Tumi about how good it is to see a Black woman in such a powerful role. Diversity in yachting needs to improve, and it’s something Tumi talks about in confessional. Hopefully, the tides are turning in the right direction.
It really rubs me the wrong way when Jack repeatedly bashes Tumi in confessional, all while pronouncing her name incorrectly. It’s not a difficult one to say. It shows a lack of respect, and without that, the two are never going to get along.
They butt heads while serving for the Diamonds Forever dinner. One guest gave notes to Kyle, which he ran back to Jack, about changing the meat in her main. It appears as though Kyle actually gave Jack the wrong note, and said she wanted the lobster in her starter. This all falls on Tumi’s head, and Kyle has no problem in calling her out now that Natalya’s fed him Tumi’s bitching about his cheese.
“This is a sh*t show … you need to be on top [of things],” he rants. Tumi takes the opportunity to get the menu notes from the guest. “I’m not making up stuff.” From the crew mess, Natalya says to Luka, “Let’s evict her.” Mean girl sh*t. Not into it.
“He [Jack] doesn’t respect me because your f*cking friend is running her mouth,” Tumi says to Kyle. Then in the galley to Jack, Tumi says: “I want you to win, I never ever want you to fail. You’re phenomenal … I know you have someone in your ear, I would like at least a fair chance.” Kudos.
Natalya really hates Tumi’s hands
(Photo by: Charles Sykes/Bravo via Getty Images)
The dinner goes down a treat, and the guests enjoy their pajama party with Kyle on service. He gets to bed around 3 a.m., leaving the party cleanup to Natalya who arises at 6 a.m. She has a problem with the fact he left the decor out, because she wanted to just get going for the day. While she has a point, her delivery of that point to Tumi is entirely unnecessary.
Tumi explains that she would rather Kyle go to bed when he did and the morning team do the cleaning. He needs some rest. That should be the end of it, but Natalya tries to hammer her point home.
“I am telling you I am fine with it, end of the story,” Tumi says while moving her hands a little, because she’s expressive.
“Stop doing this with your hands,” Natalya snaps back while imitating her. “Stop talking back to me!” Tumi requests. They go back-and-forth and it’s a whole mess, again!
“She reminds me of a chihuahua,” Tumi says in confessional. “Territorial, combative, speaks all the time, and I’ve just had it. We’re done.”
Judging by the preview for next week, Captain Sandy may be done, too!
Below Deck Mediterranean continues Mondays at 9/8c on Bravo.
TELL US – ARE TUMI AND NATALYA AS BAD AS EACH OTHER? DOES KYLE HAVE A PLAN TO TAKE THE CHIEF STEW ROLE FOR HIMSELF?
In Season 5 of Love Is Blind, barely any couples have survived the experiment. That’s not a good thing for the show overall, but on the other hand, there’s been plenty of drama to keep us hooked.
In the latest batch of episodes, we saw Uche Okoroha come for his real-life ex Lydia Velez Gonzalez. He accused her of rigging the casting process to get them both on the show at the same time. It was the perfect level of messy that we tune in for every season. However, two key cast members were missing: Aaliyah Cosby and Taylor Rue. Where in the world were they?
Not in the mood for BBQ?
It turns out, Aaliyah and Taylor didn’t have a heads-up that the barbeque was going to be a messy disaster. They simply just weren’t feeling it that day. The two spoke to The Messenger and gave some behind-the-scenes tea about why they were no-shows at the group barbecue.
Aaliyah explained to the outlet that she didn’t want to go to the barbecue because she was too deep into her emotions. She said she was “healing” and didn’t feel like being amongst the group.
“I decided not to go just because I wasn’t really emotionally ready at the time to really be amongst everyone,” Aaliyah explained. “I was healing, at that point, still, from everything. I didn’t anticipate that there was going to be a lot of drama or anything. I just was like, ‘I don’t think I can be in the same room with Lydia.’ I wasn’t ready for that.”
Considering what we’ve heard about the strict rules put in place by production, it’s surprising that they even gave Aaliyah a choice to opt out of this group scene. However, Taylor expressed a similar sentiment. She didn’t want to be around Jared “JP” Pierce, so she skipped.
Taylor revealed, “I wasn’t ready to see [JP]. I needed time to heal myself. He had reached out afterward, and I just wasn’t ready.”
So, it sounds like we’ll have to wait until the Love is Blind Season 5 reunion to see everyone back in the same room. Or, will they skip out on that too for the sake of healing?
Love is Blind Season 5 is currently streaming on Netflix, and the finale drops on October 13th.
TELL US – ARE YOU ENJOYING LOVE IS BLIND SEASON 5? DO YOU THINK TAYLOR AND AALIYAH SHOULD HAVE SKIPPED THE BBQ?
Last week on The Real Housewives of New York, Sai De Silva and Jessel Taank met for lunch. It didn’t go well. First of all, Jessel was over 40 minutes late, without so much as a text or a phone call of explanation. Who does that?
Second, Jessel came prepared with a story about her alcoholic uncle that she lived with when she first came to New York. She tried to relate it to Sai’s experience of her mother dying from alcoholism. Though I like Jessel and think she means well, her intentions missed the mark. As Jenna Lyons said later, “Your mom’s your mom.” There’s no comparing losing your mother to losing an uncle. I’m 100% with Jenna on this. Jessel, who still has her mother, should understand this.
The lunch ended with Sai telling Jessel, “I just don’t care.” It was rude, but that’s just how Sai is. Also, she’s lying because all she and Erin Lichy do is talk about Jessel. They talk about her marriage, her sex life, and Jessel’s husband Pavit’s trip to Vietnam. Step back, ladies. It’s none of your f*cking business.
Date night at Swingers
@jesseltaank via Instagram
Erin, Sai and Jessel are having a group date night at a place called Swingers. It’s a swanky indoor mini-golf place that also serves food and drinks. Erin and Sai arrive first with their respective hubbies Abe and David. When Erin asks Sai if she’s spoken to Jessel since their lunch, Sai says, “I genuinely don’t care.” That’s bullsh*t, Sai. If you didn’t care, why are you still talking about her?
Next on the agenda, everyone started talking about Jessel and Pavit’s staycation, where their long drought reportedly came to an end. Seriously? Why are they all talking about Jessel’s personal business like this? My husband would be furious if I made our private business so public. It’s a betrayal of trust.
When Jessel and Pavit arrive, the subject of Pavit’s planned 24-hour trip to Vietnam resurfaces. They all believe he’s going for illicit reasons, but Pavit says it was a great deal, and he’ll get a ton of air miles they can use later as a family. He scored a first-class ticket, which usually goes for around $15,000, for only $900 – so he bought three of them. He’s already used two and has one left.
He’s looking forward to just sitting in first-class, drinking champagne, eating caviar, and being served great food. It’s a long flight, but he’ll enjoy the experience of being pampered all the way there and back. Once there, he’ll get his bánh mì sandwich, spend the night and come home. Where do I sign up?
Brynn stirs the pot
Cindy Ord/Getty Images
Brynn Whitfield is over her bout with Covid. She and Jenna meet up at Jessel’s for drinks. Brynn says that Erin told her that at Swingers, Ubah Hassan asked each of the men why they married their spouse since Ubah can’t seem to keep a guy for more than three days.
“Erin said that Pavit said, ‘I like Jessel cause she lets me do whatever I want.'” That’s not what he said at all. What he actually said was, “It’s being able to do what you love with someone else, and they put up with your sh*t.”
Erin also said that Pavit wasn’t wearing his ring, and it was “weird.” Lots of men don’t wear a wedding ring. It doesn’t make them any less married. Ring or not, Jessel makes it clear that Pavit is her “f*cking best friend.”
When Jessel says it’s time for her to move on, Brynn disagrees. She thinks “moving on” is an excuse not to stand up for yourself. “How people treat you is a direct reflection of what you’ve given them permission to do,” Brynn says.
Brynn believes Sai and Erin don’t respect Jessel because she doesn’t stand up to them. She needs to tell Sai, “Stay the f*ck out of my business. The second you say that to Sai, she’s gonna be like, ‘Wanna go have a drink?'”
“I don’t need this mean girl bullying sh*t,” Jessel says, getting emotional. She feels targeted. Time to stand up to the mean girls, Jessel. Tell them to get the f*ck out of your business.
Real Housewives of New York airs Sundays @ 9/8c on Bravo.
TELL US – DO YOU THINK ERIN AND SAI ARE MEAN GIRLS? DO YOU THINK THEY’RE TARGETING JESSEL?
When the first pics of the Season 14 reunion were released earlier this week, fans of the Real Housewives of New York reboot were in for quite a shock. No, it wasn’t because Brynn Whitfield appeared to be dressed like a sexy Victorian governess. It was that—gasp—Jenna Lyons was wearing jeans! The ensemble instantly became controversial, but we’re here for it. Let us explain this hot (or should we say haute?) take.
Jenna Lyons Has an Iconic Signature Style
JP Yim/Getty Images for Tonic.xyz
In the fashion world, Jenna was already famous before joining the Real Housewives of New York. Her bold reimagining of J. Crew revived the brand, and is the reason it still has a cool and classic reputation to this day. Her statement glasses, red lips, pulled-back hair, and preppy-chic clothes have all been recognizable signatures for years.
Since her exit from J.Crew, Jenna’s continued to make waves on red carpets and magazine covers, wearing stunning and bold looks that somehow only she can pull off. She became such a New York icon that it lead to an acting role on HBO’s Girls. The show’s creator and star, Lena Dunham, even dressed up like Jenna at the Met Gala.
When you become famous for your sense of style, we think it’s more than fair to wear whatever you want to this kind of an event. After all, Jenna wore denim to the Met Gala one year and made it work. We’d take a stylish-yet-casual look over some of the truly hideous ensembles we’ve seen at past Real Housewives reunions.
Jenna Wearing Jeans Is Actually Not That Unexpected
Cindy Ord/Bravo via Getty Images
Even if you were unfamiliar with her fashion career, the reunion look is pretty consistent with Jenna’s outfits on the show so far. She previously wore jeans to the RHONY premiere. Honsestly, we prefer Jenna’s controversial reunion outfit to the rose blouse in this picture.
Jenna stayed true to herself with her confessional looks as well, choosing crisp button downs and blazers over sequins and dramatic dresses. And she wore a very similar outfit on Watch What Happens Live with Ubah Hassan. Frankly, it would’ve been more shocking if she did show up in a ballgown.
Reunion Filming Takes Forever
Clifton Prescod/Bravo via Getty Images
We’ve heard time and time again that filming reunions are exhausting. Why shouldn’t Jenna be comfortable while sitting down for hours?
In addition to being time-consuming, Real Housewives reunions can also be emotionally taxing. We imagine the RHONY reunion will include some difficult questions from Andy Cohen. They’ll also be going over events from the season, like the time the RHONY women ganged up on Jenna out of nowhere. Plus, Jenna will likely confront Erin Lichy about her two-faced antics. If wearing jeans makes her feels comfortable and confident, who are we to judge?
In fact, we already know how much Jenna prioritizes those feelings. She’s been very open about facing the insecurities that come with her genetic disorder. And she infamously chose to take an earlier flight for those reasons, as well as to avoid flying coach.
It’s not as if Jenna overlooked a dress code. Certain Real Housewives cities coordinate their looks for the reunions each year. For instance, the Real Housewives of Potomac cast members always wear gowns in the same color. But RHONY’s new ladies took the opposite approach for their freshman year.
As fan account Bravo By Betches pointed out, everyone in the cast looks like they’re dressed for a different occasion. With Brynn in velvet and Erin in a cocktail dress, they don’t even look dressed for the same climate.
It’s Better Than Some Other RHONY Season 14 Denim Looks
Bravo/YouTube
Sorry Sai De Silva, but this ill-fitted denim bustier confessional look is still one of the worst outfits all season. Sai may be a fashion influencer, but she can’t compete with Jenna’s taste in denim. Neither can Erin, who also wore double denim for one of her confessional looks this season.
Jenna Isn’t a Typical Housewife—and That’s a Good Thing
River Callaway/WWD via Getty Images
Jenna has been a breath of fresh air all season long. She never comes across as if she’s trying too hard, which we can’t say for all her castmates. Isn’t wearing jeans to the reunion exactly the kind of move fans fell in love with her for in the first place?
Of course, some have argued that having a very un-housewives like personality might make Jenna a bad fit for the franchise in the long run. But for now, we’re enjoying it, reunion jeans and all.
TELL US – DO YOU THINK IT’S WRONG FOR JENNA LYONS TO WEAR JEANS TO THE REUNION? WHICH RHONY SEASON 14 REUNION LOOK IS YOUR FAVORITE?
