Teresa Giudice Breaks Her Silence on 15-Month Prison Sentence
— -- Teresa and Joe Giudice opened up to Bravo's Andy Cohen in a special "Watch What Happens Live," that was taped the day after the couple was sentenced in their federal fraud case.
Teresa Giudice said she was "so nervous" before U.S. District Court Judge Esther Salas ruled last Thursday that the reality star would get 15 months in prison, starting Jan. 5.
"I was shaking," she told Cohen. "At one point, I couldn't even move my fingers. They were stuck. I couldn't open my hands ... my nerves were shot, I've had sleepless nights."
Teresa, 42, was noticeably shaken during the interview, which airs in full tonight at 9 p.m. ET.
Read: Teresa Giudice Sentenced to 15 Months in Prison, Joe Giudice to Serve 3.5 Years
"I was shocked," she added about her sentence, which also included $414,000 in restitution. "It was very unexpected. I don't even know what to say."
Teresa's prison sentence will be staggered. Her husband was also sentenced, but to three-and-a-half years in prison.
The couple are parents to four girls -- Gia, Milania, Gabrielle and Audriana.
Cohen asked Teresa about her comments during the sentencing, where she said -- sobbing in court -- that "I need to learn to do things for myself. ... I need to wake up."
She continued, "Like I do need to read things before I sign them. I do need to understand things before I sign them. I'm a trustworthy person and sometimes, I take what other people say and I just believe them. I trust them."
In a second preview video, Teresa talked about how her daughter Gia reacted to her mother's sentence.
"She said, 'It's going to be okay,'" Teresa revealed. "She was being strong for me, I could tell. She was like 'Mommy, don't worry about it, I'll be there, I'll help daddy with the girls.' She's like, 'That'll prepare me for when I'm a mom.'"
"It broke my heart when she said that," she added.
Teresa also said she got a call from Gia's school guidance counselor and that they are going to take her out of gym once a week and "just talk to her, see how she's doing."
"[Gia] said the one person she's worried about is me," she continued. "She's like, 'I'm just worried about my mom.'"
She then turned the conversation to her husband, who she called a "great father, a great husband."
She did admit that she's old school with her daughters and that she does "everything" with them.
"I'm the one who's hands on," she added. "So, all I said to my husband was, 'Please take care of our daughters. That's all I ask.'"
The reality TV stars were charged with several counts of loan and bankruptcy fraud last year. They pleaded guilty this past March.
At the couple's sentencing, the judge had choice words for the parents and advice for raising their daughters.
"Your four daughters need to understand discipline. If you don't have it you shouldn't spend it," she said of the fraud. "If they won't like you because you're not driving a Benz or walking on Jimmy Choos or Manolo Blahniks then they're not your friends."
