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Caroline Manzo “Blown Away” by Teresa and Joe Giudice’s Sentencing: It’s “Tragic”

Caroline Manzo
Former Real Housewives of New Jersey star Caroline Manzo weighed in with her thoughts on Teresa and Joe Giudice's prison sentences

Caroline Manzo hasn’t always gotten along with Teresa Giudice, but that doesn’t mean she wants to see her former costar behind bars. During an appearance on Andy Cohen‘s Watch What Happens Live on Sunday, Oct. 5, the Manzo’d With Children star was asked to weigh in with her thoughts on Teresa and Joe Giudice‘s sentencing last week for fraud. (The Real Housewives of New Jersey stars were given prison terms of 15 months and 41 months, respectively.)

Related: PHOTOS: Housewives' biggest feuds ever

“I’m blown away. I’m blown away by the whole thing,” Manzo, 53, told Cohen, who interviewed the Giudices for a special WWHL airing Monday, Oct. 6. “It’s so much bigger than Housewives, it’s so much bigger than Bravo…it’s just life-changing for these two people and their children.”

The couple’s four daughters — Gia, 13, Gabriella, 10, Milania, 8, and Audriana, 5 — are of particular concern to Manzo, a mother of three herself. “The only thing I can think of is their kids. God bless those kids,” she said. “It is what it is and it happened…[but] I can’t wrap my head around it. It’s a lot.”

Related: PHOTOS: Stars at court

Giudices WWHL
Former Real Housewives of New Jersey star Caroline Manzo weighed in with her thoughts on Teresa and Joe Giudice’s prison sentences

Though not usually one to bite her tongue, the Bravo star — whose once-close friendship with the Giudices soured irrevocably about two seasons ago — went on to say that she hopes people on social media will keep their opinions to themselves. “Just understand, this is tragic, this is sad,” she said. “I can’t judge them, and I won’t judge them, because I don’t know what happened. All I can think of, again, is those kids.”

Related: PHOTOS: Before they were Housewives

Cohen, for his part, recalled one meeting early on in the Housewives franchise when Joe, 42, inquired as to whether anyone had been indicted as a result of coming on the show. He also remembered Manzo saying that if Joe ever had to “go somewhere” — for example, to prison — Teresa, 42, would “take over” and divorce her husband. “Do you still stand by that?” he asked.

“I’m going to keep that to myself,” she replied. “Because today’s not the day for that. This week is not the week for that. I would be an awful person to speculate. This is not a time to gloat, this is not a time to laugh, this is not a time to say, ‘I told you so.’ This is a time to say, ‘You know what, everybody? Just be aware that things happen in life and people make mistakes and there are regrets.'”

Related: PHOTOS: Former Real Housewives

She continued: “This is bad. This is not funny. This is awful. So, back then in anger I said some things, and maybe I regret ’em, and maybe they’ll come true — I don’t know. All I know is that what I saw go down this week is sad.”

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