Real Housewives of New Jersey star Jennifer Aydin has opened up about the affair that almost ruined her marriage - and why wives should stick by cheating husbands.
Appearing on My Friend, My Soulmate, My Podcast with Vicki Gunvalson, the 47-year-old recounted how her plastic surgeon husband Bill cheated on her with a pharmaceutical rep when she was pregnant with their fourth child.
'I lived through an infidelity,' she said, explaining that Bill strayed after they'd been married for around 10 years.
'He was feeling himself, he was making money, and I was literally in the thick of it, pregnant with my fourth child and I had three other kids under five,' she explained.
'And I wasn't paying attention to him, this is true. Like, I was always tired, the kids always came first,' she continued.
Real Housewives of New Jersey star Jennifer Aydin has opened up about her husband Bill's affair and why women should forgive a cheating husband
Appearing on Vicki Gunvalson's podcast, the 47-year-old recounted how her plastic surgeon husband Bill cheated on her when she was pregnant with their fourth child.
Andy Cohen makes shock RHONJ cast announcement
'We dealt with it. He didn't want to give up, I didn't want to give up. I thought, "Okay, just because he did a bad thing... people make mistakes. This is the father of my children and I should not just penalize him on one mistake."
'He treats me very well, he's very respectful,' she added.
Jennifer admitted that she was 'shattered' that the 'fairytale' marriage she'd envisioned for herself had been broken.
'I married a Turkish guy from my community. I made everybody happy. We had 600 people at our wedding. I'm on my fourth kid... and this is how you do me dirty?' she said.
'And then I woke up and was like, "Time to be a big girl. You've got a family to think about." He's a good man, he's a good person, a god-fearing man. He had a slip-up. S**t happens,' she continued.
'And listen, a pharmaceutical rep coming in and wooing the doctor is not so out of left field in this day and age. You hear about it all the time, it is what it is. We dealt with it.'
Not only did the couple work through their issues, they went on to have a fifth child together - a son named Christian.
'I married a Turkish guy from my community. I made everybody happy. We had 600 people at our wedding. I'm on my fourth kid ... and this is how you do me dirty?' she said
Jennifer admitted that she was 'shattered' that the 'fairytale' marriage she'd envisioned for herself had been broken
After Jennifer shared her marriage woes on season 12 of The Real Housewives of New Jersey, a fan reached out to her to commend her for sticking by her cheating husband.
'It was basically a message that said, "I'm so happy that you forgave your husband. I cared too much about what everybody thought and I took my pride too much into consideration that I left a good man, and now I'm alone and he's married and has the beautiful family that I threw away."
'Sometimes s**t happens and you just have to assess.
'Don't listen to anybody else. Do what works for you,' she said.
Jennifer also stressed that 'the grass isn't always greener' when it comes to leaving a marriage.
'You know what I've learned just through watching friends? Sometimes the grass isn't always greener,' she said.
'And you [swap] one set of problems for another set of problems and by the time you get to your second guy you realize it's not the person, it's the process.'
'He's a good man, he's a good person, a god-fearing man. He had a slip-up. S**t happens,' she said, sharing her decision to stick by his side
Jennifer shared her marriage woes on season 12 of The Real Housewives of New Jersey
Jennifer revealed that she confronted Bill about his affair the day before she gave birth to their fourth child on an episode of RHONJ, which aired in 2022.
She told Teresa Giudice and Dolores Catania on camera that Bill's affair happened 10 years prior and that she was over it.
'I was pregnant,' Jennifer told them. 'We had just moved to Jersey. It was my fourth kid. He was not around. He was working a lot and he was really feeling himself for a bit. He was making money.'
They asked her how she found out and Jennifer said from a credit card receipt.
'They went to a club, VIP with bottle service,' said Jennifer. 'That was my first red flag and then I saw a text message on his phone and I confronted him with it.'
Jennifer said Bill admitted it.
'You know what I've learned just through watching friends? Sometimes the grass isn't always greener,' she said
In a confessional, Jennifer said she was nine-months pregnant, a stay-at-home mom with no income of her own and it was 10 days before she was about to give birth.
The reality star told them that she asked Bill if he wanted a divorce and he said no.
She said she asked him if he loved the other woman and he said no. She then asked if the affair was over and that he told her that it had ended a while ago.
'I got angry and I threw things at him,' said Jennifer. 'Literally the next day I had Christian.'
She said in a confessional that once the baby came that she felt that she wanted to make it work if he wanted to make it work.
'And we never f***ing spoke about it again,' Jennifer told Teresa and Dolores.
