Former RHONJ Star Rips Teresa Giudice’s Decision to Join DWTS

Pasha Pashkov and Teresa Giudice

ABC Pasha Pashkov and Teresa Giudice on Dancing with the Stars.

Teresa Giudice surprised fans by signing on to “Dancing With the Stars,” but not everyone is giving her a high score.

For her first dance, the 50-year-old “Real Housewives of New Jersey” star and her pro partner, Pasha Pashkov, recreated her famous “RHONJ” season 1 moment in which she flipped a restaurant table during an argument with co-star Danielle Staub. The couple received 20 out of 40 points for their premiere night tango, landing them in the bottom two for the night.

Judges Carrie Ann Inaba, Derek Hough, and Bruno Tonioli saved Giudice from going home, but she will need a lot of work and fan support to stay in the competition.

In a new interview on the “Behind the Velvet Rope with David Yontef” podcast, Giudice’s premiere night dance – and her decision to join the celebrity ballroom competition at all – was ripped by one of her former friends.

Here’s what you need to know:


Teresa Giudice’s Former Friend Slammed Her ‘DWTS’ Performance

Kim DePaola

YouTube/BravoKim DePaola

Kim DePaola, aka Kim D, is a notorious personality from “The Real Housewives of New Jersey.” She appeared on 25 episodes of the Bravo reality show from 2010 to 2018, per IMDb, and still runs in the same circles as some of her former co-stars.

In a September 24, 2022 interview on “Behind the Velvet Rope,” Kim called Giudice’s first “DWTS” dance “ridiculous,” especially the table flip.

“I didn’t think she would be good, but my jaw dropped when I watched this,” Kim D said. “First of all, when he was leading her down the table, her neck was like stiff like that. She could barely move on the dance floor. She was so stiff.”

“The dance was extremely short and he dragged you around like a rag doll,” she added. “She really knew nothing. And she was so stiff. I’d never seen anything like it. It was really the worst dance of the night.”

Kim also speculated that the judges only “saved” Giudice because she will bring in more weekly viewers than Jason Lewis, the actor who was eliminated instead of her.

“She was bad,” Kim said of Giudice. “She cannot dance.  …My personal opinion is, you know, she knows deep down she can’t dance. I think she sold herself to the devil. This money. It wasn’t worth the money. She made a complete fool out of herself. And she’s an embarrassment.”

Kim also called out Giudice’s fans, “Tre Huggers,” and asked where they were when it was time to vote on “DWTS.”

“She was not a draw because no one voted for her,” Kim said. “She was in the bottom two. Yeah. Tre Huggers. Where are you? No, she wasn’t good.”

Kim added that joining “Dancing With the Stars” took Giudice “down a peg,” careerwise.


Teresa Giudice Revealed Why She Agreed to Recreate Her Table Flip Moment

Giudice’s “DWTS” debut was a tango to Rihanna’s “We Found Love.” The table flip re-do came early in the performance with Pashkov, but it almost didn’t come at all.  In an interview with Entertainment Tonight, Giudice admitted that she was unsure at first about recreating her notorious “RHONJ” moment.

“At first I know I was like, I didn’t know if I wanted to do it,” Giudice told ET. “[But then,] I’m like, ‘You know what? I know my fans are gonna love it.’ I did it for them. And this time I did it with a smile on my face.”

While Pashkov is in charge of creating Giudice’s choreography, People reported that it was actually “Dancing With the Stars’” creative team who came up with the idea to pay homage to her memorable reality TV moment in the first dance.

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