That's amore? Not exactly. But a year after Joe Giudice landed in his native Italy—deported there following a 41-month stint in prison for various fraud charges and another seven months in an ICE detention center—he's adjusted to life in a homeland that doesn't quite feel like home.
"Listen, it's not that I'm enjoying my life," he exclusively tells E! News. "It's the life that I have to live now. Okay? So what am I supposed to do? I'm working." Ever the hustler, he's got his hands in a few businesses—ranging from real estate and a celebrity boxing match to what he obliquely refers to as "a woman's massager, let's just say"—and he's even testing the waters on romance with a new attorney paramour. "We're not really dating," the 48-year-old says, "but we're, like, seeing each other or whatever." (Fun fact: She's actually "a fan" of his ex-wife, Teresa Giudice.)
But despite more or less settling into this new normal in Salerno ("It went by so damn quick, I can't even believe I've been here a year"), he hasn't let go of hope that one day he'll be able to return to the country he called his from the time his parents landed on New Jersey's shores in the 1970s when he was an infant.
With his four daughters, Gia, 19, Gabriella, 16, Milania, 14, Audriana, 11, his siblings and mom all based in the States, "I want to eventually be able to come back to the U.S. and visit my family whenever I want, you know?" he reasons. "Because that's only right, I would imagine."
What, you're surprised Juicy Joe is speaking his mind?
In a wide-ranging interview, the reality TV vet opened up to E! News about coparenting with Teresa from 4,500 miles away, the reason he's shipping sex toys to The Real Housewives of New Jersey cast and some big, big plans he's considering. (Hint: If things go his way, there could be a President Giudice in our future.)
We're not gonna lie, it's truly wild. So get your table flipping hands ready and settle in because Joe holds nothing back.