“Real Housewives of New Jersey” star Margaret Josephs is responding to Danielle Staub’s claim that she is the reason for Staub’s recent divorce, all while going in on her once-best friend.
In a candid interview with TooFab, Margaret gave us an update on her feud with Danielle, explained her comment about Teresa Giudice “cocktailing it up all night with some guy” and teased what viewers can expect when “RHONJ” returns to Bravo November 6.
During the epic Season 9 finale, Margaret pushed Danielle’s then-husband, Marty Caffrey, into the pool at co-star Jennifer Aydin’s home. She snarkily informed Danielle, “Your husband’s in the pool,” before making her way out of the party — a comment that’s become both a viral meme and an iconic quote among Housewives fans.
“He deserved it,” Margaret told us. “And it was great for the fans. Win-win for all!”
Shortly after that, and three months after saying “I do,” Marty filed for divorce. Margaret said he then called her husband, Joe Benigno, “to make up.”
“I think he realized what was going on,” Margaret told us, adding that Marty and Joe are now “friends.”
“I actually felt sorry for Marty because — and this is all public information — she publicly trashed his family, filed a restraining order on him, accused him of abuse, all those things,” she went on. “So I said to him, ‘After she has publicly trashed your children, your family, accused you of heinous acts, I would not want you to go back to her. I think that you’d be very sorry to do something like that and humiliate yourself one more time and be made an ass out of.'”
A brief moment of that conversation is what viewers saw in the explosive Season 10 trailer; however, Danielle tells a different story. In the same supertease, she was seen telling Teresa that Margaret was the reason her marriage fell apart.
“I mean, that would be amazing if that was the case! I don’t know how I could’ve even done that, considering we weren’t even speaking,” Margaret told us of the claim. “I can’t be the cause of anyone’s divorce, but that she could not even take responsibility for that just shows her mental state. I’ll leave it at that. I just find it so entertaining.”
We asked Margaret what she believes caused the rift. Laughing, she noted that was “a loaded question,” then told us she thinks Marty simply “saw her true colors. Love is blind. After they got married, she was probably like, ‘Okay, all bets are off!’ And that was it. He saw the real Danielle. The woman has been engaged 20 times at this point, and she only [got married] three times. Her average is not too good, if you know what I’m saying.”
“Obviously, I’m psychic because they did file for divorce eight weeks after getting married,” she added. “I always feel vindicated when I’m right.”
In February of this year, Staub and Caffrey finalized their divorce, six months after he filed and less than a year after their May wedding.
Two days before Caffrey filed, however, there was an incident at the couple’s home that prompted them both to file temporary restraining orders against each other. They dropped them a week after the divorce filing, though Staub maintained Caffrey “used my platform, abused my name [and] me.” She accused him of “acts of extreme cruelty” toward her, which allegedly included recording acts of intimacy without her knowledge, and emotional and verbal abuse toward her two daughters.
Caffrey vehemently denied the claims and said, “This is simply Danielle Staub trying to take people out like she has in her past, but it’s not going to work this time.”
For her part, Margaret told TooFab that she and Danielle “will never be friends again. I always say that ship has sailed and sunk.”
Of the explosive supertease, Margaret feels it accurately “depicts the season of insanity to ensue,” though she does feel that “some things are misleading.”
And one of those things is when she’s seen telling Melissa Gorga that her sister-in-law was boozing it up with a younger man.
“I have to watch back the context of it,” Margaret told us. “When they show another part of [another teaser], I’m asked point-blank about her [cheating] rumors, and I say, ‘I don’t care. I don’t care what goes on behind closed doors, and it’s none of my business.’ I made that blanket statement because I really don’t care what anybody does, and I’m not here to judge.”
So in terms of the “cocktailing it up” comment, Margaret feels she may have been “repeating what was said” or “repeating a story,” admitting she doesn’t remember the details of the conversation.
The trailer also highlights a massive spat between Margaret and Jennifer, last season’s newcomer, where Josephs says to Aydin across the dinner table, “The only achievement you’ve ever had is marrying someone rich!”
“I feel like Jennifer and I are always…we don’t always see eye-to-eye. I always look at myself as just…I’ve been through a lot more than Jennifer. I’m older, I’ve raised my children, I’ve done a lot more than her. She’s at a different part in her life,” Margaret explained. “I think I come from a different view and perspective, so we don’t always see eye-to-eye. We can recover from things, but I look at her as like a younger, annoying sister sometimes that I yell at.”
One of the topics the women seem to continuously fight over is the way Margaret’s current marriage began. Since day one, she’s been upfront about the fact that she had an affair with the contractor while she was married to her ex-husband, Jan Josephs. Margaret and Jan remain “extremely close.”
“I just think no one has lived or walked in my shoes,” she told us. “I think it’s ridiculous. I think Joe and I have proven the test of time that we were meant to be together. We happen to have a very strong, happy marriage… People could have a DWI and be judged less, where they could possible kill an entire family, and they would rather judge someone who cheated on someone. I think it’s absolutely ridiculous, I think it’s nonsense and I actually find it completely naive.”
Unfortunately, Margaret’s relationship with Jan’s two children is still “very strained,” but she’s at peace knowing all six of her kids are happy.
“I have a son. I birthed a son. I said it on social media. I keep him very private. Joe has two kids. We keep them private,” she explained. “I spoke about my two stepkids that, our relationship is very strained. It’s still not where it should be, but there are six kids in the mix. We have a strained relationship with two of them, and it’s sad. That is a fallout from a divorce situation that happened, and I’m always working on it. But the redeeming thing is that my kids are all close, they’re all strong and successful and happy, and that’s the best thing you want when you’re a parent. You’re always as happy as your unhappiest child, and my kids are all happy, so that’s what counts.”
Despite the arguing, the disagreeing and the hair-pulling that transpires on “RHONJ,” Margaret says, “These are my friends, and I have a relationship with every one of them.”
Season 10 of “The Real Housewives of New Jersey” premieres Wednesday, November 6 at 8 p.m. on Bravo.
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