Teresa Giudice Says She's 'Happy' for Joe After He Was Photographed Partying with Women in Mexico

Teresa Giudice is happy Joe Guidice is moving on — and enjoying his newfound singleness — after their split.

At the end of January, Joe, 49, was photographed partying with a group of bikini-clad women in Mexico, which came two months after his separation from Teresa. In photos obtained by TMZ, the Real Housewives of New Jersey star danced poolside with the group of several women. At one point, he was photographed lying on a day bed with two women.

And just what did Teresa, 47, think of Joe spending time with numerous women?

“I’m happy for him,” Teresa told PEOPLE TV’s Reality Check on Wednesday. “Party on.”

Though Teresa wasn’t affected by the images, she said Joe was “upset” — specifically because one of his daughters saw the photos.

“He was upset that his daughter saw it,” said Teresa, who shares daughters Gia, 19, Gabriella, 16, Milania, 15, and Audriana, 11, with Joe. “He was upset about that. And it wasn’t even paparazzi taking his picture. It was random people at the hotel, which I think people should just mind their business because we’re just normal people like everyone else. It’s like, why do you want to take our photo? Leave us alone.”

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She added, “Let Joe live his life, I want to live my life. We all need our privacy. But I made it good, I made it good.”

Sitting alongside Teresa, Dolores Catania praised her castmate for the way she handled the situation.

“She told the kids it’s okay, it’s not a big deal. A lot of other women sometimes use the kids as a pawn against the dad. … She went the way I would have taken it, and that’s the right way to go because the kids after that were fine,” said Catania.

In December 2019, PEOPLE exclusively confirmed that Joe and Teresa were separating after 20 years of marriage.

“They agreed that each had to move on,” an insider told PEOPLE at the time. “They are doing so amicably and very slowly. Joe has been out on a few dates, Teresa has not. She has been too busy with the girls, with work obligations and taking care of her father. She is happy for Joe. They have been very friendly with one another and are very supportive of each other’s happiness. They still love one another, but … neither is interested in a long distance relationship.”

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Joe and Teresa have been living apart since March 2016, when Joe began his 41-month prison sentence for mail, wire and bankruptcy fraud. Teresa had served a little over 11 months in prison for the same crimes, and was released on Dec. 23, 2015.

Though Joe was released in March 2019, he chose to move into the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement at the Clinton County Correctional Center in Pennsylvania as he fought to appeal a judge’s deportation order. (He has lived in the United States since he was a child, but never obtained American citizenship.) Two appeals have been denied, and one is still pending.

Joe eventually requested to go to Italy, where he is awaiting that final appeal.