Teresa Giudice

Personality

Birth Date: May 18, 1972

Age: 53 years old

Birth Place: Paterson, New Jersey

Teresa Giudice's short temper and no-nonsense attitude turned her from suburban homemaker into one of reality television's most explosive personalities on Bravo's "The Real Housewives of New Jersey" (2009- ). Born Teresa Gorga in Paterson, NJ to Italian immigrant parents Giacinto and Antonia Gorga, she earned a degree in Fashion Marketing and Management from East Coast-based Berkeley College. Her educational background landed the future reality star in the fashion industry, working as an accessories buyer for Macy's in New York.

In 2001, she married childhood friend and businessman Giuseppe 'Joe' Giudice, with whom she had four children. When Bravo extended its successful "Real Housewives" franchise to feature the Garden State, Giudice was one of five women chosen to star on "The Real Housewives of New Jersey." She was joined by tough matriarch Caroline Manzo, stay-at-home mom Jacqueline Laurita, interior decorator Dina Manzo, and vampy former-stripper Danielle Staub.

Giudice quickly captured viewers' attention with her loud-mouthed personality and lavish lifestyle. Even though Giudice played nice with most of her "Housewives" castmates, especially the Manzo sisters, she often clashed with the equally brash and conniving Staub. The duo delivered some of the franchise's biggest and most memorable blowups, including the first season's infamous finale where Giudice flips a table out of fuming anger over Staub.

The group returned for a second season in 2010, when Giudice and Staub's hatred for each other reached an all-time high that resulted in the latter quitting the series. That same year also saw Giudice and her husband filing bankruptcy for a reported $8.7 million in liabilities, including $20,000 owed to stores such as Bloomingdale's and Neiman Marcus.

The news sent shockwaves across the "Housewives" landscape as the series highlighted the luxurious lifestyles of the women it featured. It also turned Giudice into a tabloid fixture, which helped boost publicity for her New York Times best-selling cookbook Skinny Italian: Eat It and Enjoy It: Live La Bella Vita and Look Great, Too! (2010).

Giudice returned for a third season of "Housewives" which saw her constantly at war with sister-in-law Melissa Gorga. By the time the season concluded, Giudice was feuding with all her co-stars, including former friend Caroline Manzo, whom she insulted in her second book Fabulicious (2011) by describing her as "as Italian as the Olive Garden."

Before starting new drama on a fourth season of "Housewives," Giudice joined the 2012 cast of Donald Trump's "Celebrity Apprentice" (NBC, 2004- ) alongside Clay Aiken, Adam Carolla and Cheryl Tiegs.

By Candy Cuenco