RHONJ Star Shares Happy News After Family's Health Scare
If you've been wondering why Real Housewives of New Jersey star Margaret Josephs has been MIA on Instagram, she just provided an answer. On her podcast, Caviar Dreams, Tuna Fish Budget and on Instagram, she revealed that her "entire family" — her co-host Lexi Barbuto, her housekeeper Marlene, her mom, Marge Sr., herself, and her husband Joe Benigno — came down with COVID-19 over the holidays (via People).
"We didn't want to talk about it during Christmas because who wants to talk about COVID during Christmas," she explained on Instagram, calling it a "s****y COVID journey." She added that they've all since tested negative and are "better now." Benigno, who came down with the worst of their family's cases, popped in to remind everyone to "wear a mask."
"The Covid's out of the bag..." Josephs captioned the video. "We've been MIA of late because we've all been sick... finally now negative and back together! This is real! Wishing you all a happy healthy new year."
Josephs revealed that her husband was hospitalized with COVID-19
"Joe and I got it the worst out of our entire crew," Josephs said on her podcast. The pair tested positive the week before Christmas. At one point, Benigno was hospitalized due to a threateningly high, consistent fever.
"He had a 104 fever," Josephs explained. "He got an antibody that made him better but he was getting fevers for seven or eight days." Because their diagnosis came so close to the holidays, the pair, unfortunately, had to spend Christmas alone. "It was disheartening and depressing," Josephs said. She also added that the illness took a toll on her mental health as well as her physical.
"It was rough and it also f***s with your head," she said. "I was having crazy thoughts, I was reevaluating my life, having deep discussions. I was like 'Do I want to live here? Do I want to stay in New Jersey? What kind of life is this?'"
With that, she warned her listeners to take precautions, and that risking exposure to COVID isn't worth it. "You don't want to f***ing get this," she said. "And you don't want to give this to someone else."