Margaret Josephs has revealed that she and her husband, Joe Benigno, filmed scenes to wrap up his cancer story for season 14 of The Real Housewives of New Jersey before the moments were unfortunately cut from the episodes.
Weeks after confirming Joe’s cancer diagnosis for the first time publicly, Margaret, 57, offered an update on Joe’s health and looked back on her hardest season while also sharing her hopes for the upcoming 15th season and crediting Teresa Giudice, 52, for leaving the show in shambles.
“They didn’t even wrap up what happened with Joe,” Margaret noted on the August 29 episode of Taste of Taylor. “He is okay but he does have first-stage prostate cancer. No one knows. No one wrapped that up. They didn’t even talk about it at the alternate reunion, which they did ask me about it, but it got cut out. But he’s okay.”
According to Margaret, Joe is under active surveillance and getting tested every four months to monitor potential growth.
“As of now, it has not changed at all. It’s very stagnant, not changing … They said it might not grow for 10 years so they just check him every few months,” she explained.
As for how she’s handling Joe’s diagnosis, Margaret said she’s “totally fine” as she explained why they are not having Joe’s tumor removed.
“We had three opinions. A lot of people are like, ‘Just get it out.’ [But] the treatment’s much worse. If you get it out, you do have other issues. D*ck issues. What man wants d*ck problems?” she wondered. “It is extremely curable but with a lot of side effects.”
After being asked about her hardest season, Margaret, who joined the RHONJ cast in 2017 for season eight, signaled a season 10 moment between her and Danielle Staub, 62.
“My hardest season was probably the ponytail,” Margaret shared, giving a nod to Danielle’s hair pull, which was encouraged by Teresa.
She also cited her experience with Siggy Flicker, 57, who starred on the series’ seventh and eighth seasons.
“I was called anti-Semitic but it turned out okay. That was really hard emotionally on me. That was really, really hard. It was so new to me even though I came out of the gate strong, it was very hard on me mentally to be called that knowing my kids are Jewish and everything else,” she shared. “That was a hard season for me because it was my first season being called that, though it all worked out in the end because everyone realized what a nutball that person is and still talking [about] me to this day, which is very bizarre.”
Looking ahead to the future of the show, Margaret said RHONJ needs “levity.”
“I wish we’d film at Christmastime. Christmas tree wars, making fun of people’s Christmas trees. That’s funny. Shady sh*t like that,” she stated. “It’s gone too far. [And] one bad apple can ruin the bunch. You are only as good as your team.”
“I think we have just gotten too far. My honest opinion is I think people handle things wrong, I think people drag it out too long. I think people don’t know how to move on. [Jackie Goldschneider], the cheating thing, she cried the whole f*cking season,” Margaret continued, giving a nod to Jackie’s reaction to a false rumor about husband Evan Goldschneider, 50, cheating. “Cut me a break. I go, ‘Drop this sh*t. Who cares?’ You have to be upset for a little while but we don’t need to drag it out the whole year. Two, three episodes, drop it. Keep it moving. Because resilience is a great quality in people and a lot of housewives don’t have a lot of resilience.”
While many have labeled Teresa as “the strongest” of the women because she’s been to prison, Margaret didn’t agree.
“What choice did she have?” she asked. “Yes, she is strong. She is resilient. But boy, she’s a grudge holder, and that is not good for Housewives. She’s a grudge holder, she beats a dead horse, she drags it, she revives it, she gives it CPR, and then kills it again. And you know what? It’s not good for TV anymore. I’m just over it. You cannot drag sh*t out. Move on.”
As for Margaret’s favorite season, she named season 12, even though that was the same season she exposed Bill Aydin‘s affair.
“My favorite season might have been my mother’s 75th birthday party, which I loved. That’s something I’ll always have on camera. What a gift, that was so great,” she noted. “That was the [Jennifer Aydin] cheating season also, which I felt bad, but I also made up with her. She was there at that party. So everything kind of came together.”
“It was a rough season but it was also good. Also, my charity season when I did the hospital heroes was a good season,” she added.