33% Of People Were Most Surprised By This Real Housewives Divorce

Marriage drama is a central part of any "Real Housewives" franchise. From weddings and new families, to cheating scandals and divorce, the Bravo stars show off all aspects of their love lives. Divorce, in particular, seems to plague the women of the show and is often thought of as a by-product of being a reality star — many call it the "Housewives" curse, in fact.

E! News reported in 2020 that the rate of failed marriages for "Housewives" was a whopping 42.3% for the ladies on the show. OG "Beverly Hills" housewife Kyle Richards, whose marriage to Maurico Umansky is still going strong, opened up to E!'s "Daily Pop" about the so-called "Housewives" curse. "I really believe that a lot of people go into doing the 'Housewives' because they're not happy in their marriages," she said. "They're thinking, 'This is going to give me some independence, this is going to be my out.' And then the pressure starts, and they crack. It's inevitable."

As inevitable as some divorces among "Real Housewives" stars seem, to fans, other marriages appeared to be built to last. We conducted a survey to find out which "Real Housewives" divorce shocked fans the most and one failed marriage in particular came as the biggest surprise to Nicki Swift's readers.

"The Real Housewives of New Jersey" star Teresa Giudice's split from her husband Joe Giudice came as the biggest surprise divorce to a third of our more than 600 respondents. More so than other housewives couples, like Kelly and Michael Dodd and Kenya Moore and Marc Daly, Teresa and Joe's 20-year marriage seemed like it could withstand major challenges.

Teresa famously took the fall for Joe in a fraud case that resulted in the reality star serving 15 months in prison in 2014, according to Showbiz CheatSheet. Joe also served a 41-month sentence for his crimes and was later deported to his home country of Italy, where Teresa and their four daughters reunited as a family in 2019. "It was amazing," Teresa told Entertainment Tonight of their reunion at the time. "A lot of happy tears, I was so overwhelmed seeing how happy my daughters were, how happy Joe was."

Despite their reunion, Teresa and Joe's marriage couldn't make things work following their legal issues. Teresa confirmed on the "RHONJ" Season 10 finale that she and Joe decided to end their union after the Italy trip. "The past five years have been really dark," she said, per Bravo, adding that she had been hurt leading up to the split. The former husband and wife ultimately kept their divorce very cordial as friends and parents — Teresa even called their split "the easiest divorce in the whole entire world" once it was finalized, per People.