Making it to the other side. Jackie Goldschneider and her husband, Evan Goldschneider, weathered a big storm during season 11 of The Real Housewives of New Jersey, but they came out of the drama even stronger.
“It was a big learning curve,” the Bravo personality, 45, exclusively told Us Weekly on Tuesday, January 25, ahead of the season 12 premiere. “I think we always innately trusted each other. That was never a question for me. I never said, ‘Well, did he do this?'”
During a February 2021 episode of the show, Teresa Giudice alleged that Evan, 47, was having an affair. The former lawyer and her husband share twins Jonas and Adin, 13, and twins Alexis and Hudson, 11.
“I felt bad that I put him in that position, that he was even being questioned,” Jackie continued. “We had to learn to let go of a lot of blaming ourselves. We just realized how strong we are, and that it would take a lot more than this — even in front of the whole world — to pull us apart.”
Last year, the reality star admitted that she considered quitting RHONJ as the rumors escalated. “My family will always come first and when something threatens that, I take the time I need to make sure that it is something that is for me,” she told Us in February 2021. “I don’t want to end up a statistic. I don’t want to be just another Housewife who ended up divorced.”
She also noted that one of the hardest parts about the whole situation was having to explain it to her children, who heard gossip about their parents at school. “Teenagers, especially the girls in their grade, watch the show,” Jackie explained to Us in October 2021. “We did have to tell them about all that was happening.”
Alexis, in particular, was worried that her parents were on the verge of splitting. “My daughter, of all the kids, did not understand that even though all this was going on, we were really OK,” the New York native recalled. “She was really scared that something was going to happen, we were going to get divorced and her family was going to fall apart. There were tears.”
Now, however, everything is running smoothly in the Goldschneider household, especially between Jackie and Evan.
“We realized how valuable it is to really communicate with each other and to talk things out,” she told Us on Tuesday. “We dealt with it, we handled it, we stood united, and in the end, we all forgave each other and made up and moved forward. And I don’t think there’s anything better than that.”
The Real Housewives of New Jersey season 12 premieres on Bravo Tuesday, February 1, at 8 p.m. ET.
With reporting by Christina Garibaldi
