Getty Images Bill Aydin cheated on his wife 10 years ago.
On February 1, 2022, the premiere of season 12 of “The Real Housewives of New Jersey” aired on Bravo — and it did not disappoint. Fans expecting drama to kick off the season got exactly what they had hoped for. And, toward the end of the episode, a bomb was dropped thanks to Margaret Josephs.
Rumors that Bill Aydin had an affair came to light when Margaret brought it up during a back-and-forth with Jennifer Aydin at Teresa Giudice’s pool party.
“Everybody’s got skeletons in their closet,” Jennifer said to Margaret.
“But you talk about everyone else’s but your own,” Margaret responded. “You make it out like you’re better than everyone else… You always say Bill’s the best…he had an affair. Everybody knows,” Margaret said, unleashing. Jennifer confirmed the affair, but details about what happened, when, and how Jennifer found out were not revealed.
Since Jennifer and Bill’s marriage is set up to be a major storyline on season 12, this information may come out in time. However, some of it can be pieced together thanks to interviews that Jennifer has done.
Here’s what you need to know:
Bill Had an Affair With a Pharmaceutical Rep More Than 10 Years Ago
During the first episode of season 12, Margaret said that Bill had an affair with an “office manager.” Jennifer was quick to correct her, saying that Bill’s affair was with a pharmaceutical rep.
In an interview with Us Weekly, Jennifer revealed the timeline of her husband’s affair.
“I found out pretty much 10 days before I had Christian. So, you know, I was going through the process of letting it sink in while having to have a baby and wanting my baby to have all of the blessings that a normal child would, like having his mommy and his daddy in the delivery room. So I wanted to go through the motions of playing this game of life, so to speak, to try to put on a brave face for my children,” she told the outlet.
Jennifer was pregnant with Christian in 2011, which puts Bill’s affair around that same time — a little more than a decade ago. In March 2021, Jennifer took to Instagram to share the birth stories of her five children. She revealed that she and Bill had just moved to New Jersey when they found out that Jennifer was pregnant with Christian.
“Bill had started his new job and there were a lot of hours put into the hospital,” Jennifer wrote, explaining that she had hired a nanny for the first time because things became overwhelming to handle on her own.
Bill Has not Publicly Addressed the Affair
Although Jennifer has chosen to speak out about her husband’s affair, Bill hasn’t said anything publicly about it. It’s presumed that he will discuss it on upcoming episodes of RHONJ, but he’s been mum on social media, and hasn’t given any interviews since the premiere aired.
Jennifer, however, has done a few interviews, and has been fairly candid each time that she’s spoken out. In an interview with Page Six, Jennifer shared how she and Bill told their kids about his past affair.
Telling their youngest daughter, Olivia, 9, may have been the biggest challenge. “I put on a brave face and said, ‘Listen, Daddy did a bad thing. But that doesn’t mean that he’s a bad person. And when we love people, we forgive them when they make mistakes. And I’ve forgiven him and I’m OK.’ She wasn’t upset because I wasn’t upset,” Jennifer explained.
“My husband told Justin. I was in the room, and Justin kind of was almost irritated, like, ‘I don’t ever want to talk about this ever again.’ He’s not watching this season. My Gabriella, she was more crushed. She felt very betrayed and was angry for a bit but we got through that. And my two [younger] boys, they’re neither here or there,” Jennifer added.
In an Instagram post uploaded on February 3, 2022, Jennifer wrote, “I’m glad I stayed…and forgave.”
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