Teresa comments on her bankruptcy

Teresa explains her bankruptcy.

By Vicki Hyman/The Star-Ledger

"Real Housewives of New Jersey" star Teresa Giudice says she and and husband Joe are looking at their recently-uncovered bankruptcy filing as a "fresh start."

“While this is a personal matter, I realize that certain aspects of my private life will always be subject to scrutiny and distortion,” she tells People magazine. “What is true is that due to the economy, most of my husband’s real estate ventures failed despite his hard work and effort. As a result, we looked to the Bankruptcy Court for a ‘fresh start.’”

The bankruptcy papers list $8.7 million in liabilities, including $2.6 million in mortgages on their three homes, including the huge mansion in Towaco, and $6.1 owed to credit card companies, high-end department stores, and banks for Joe's real estate dealings, several of which are in East Orange.

As for the "scrutiny and distortion," It's true that the Giudices took out a huge mortgage for their Towaco mansion in September 2008, just as the real estate bubble burst, but it's kind of hard to overlook the profligate spending depicted on the "Real Housewives of New Jersey" so far this season, considering they had one foreclosure pending on a home they owned in Lincoln Park before they even started shooting the second season. Several other collection proceedings were instigated against the couple during filming of the second season.

“When people fall, the way to success is to get up and learn from our mistakes,” Giudice says. “We are in that process.”

Meanwhile, Dina Manzo, Giudice's pal and "Real Housewives" co-star, told zap2it.com the day the New York Post broke the news that she believes the bankruptcy reports are the work of a "hater."

"I think I would know if she was in that kind of trouble," Dina says. "And I think it's all kind of fabricated by a hater out there."