‘Real Housewives of New Jersey’: Will Teresa Giudice’s release air on TV?

We’ve known for the past few days that “Real Housewives of New Jersey” star Teresa Giudice was going to be released from prison on Monday, but there was still a big question that remained: Would this event be documented by Bravo cameras? Well, we now have that answer among a bevy of other information that came out this morning.

According to Us Weekly, there were cameras that were present as soon as Teresa got back on the outside, and People reports that she applied makeup and prepared herself immediately after her release in a prison bathroom. There was a brand-new Lexus waiting for her at home upon her arrival, a gift from her husband Joe. He will be beginning a 41-month prison sentence of his own stemming from bankruptcy fraud in March, but they will have some time together on the outside before then.

As for why Bravo / “The Real Housewives” wanted to document all of this, the answer should be fairly simple: Ratings. This is probably going to be an enormous winner for the network, given the natural curiosity around prison plus whatever it has surged to thanks to shows like “Orange is the New Black.” For the Giudice family, it’s money and plenty of it. With the attention that Teresa received before going into prison, they had to imagine that her release would fetch a hefty price tag.