“As long as I’m cool and not breaking down, I think they’ll be okay.”
Real Housewives of New Jersey star Jennifer Aydin has revealed that her kids didn’t know about her husband’s infidelity until her youngest child discovered it through TikTok.
In an interview with Page Six, Jennifer, 44, said her 9-year-old daughter, Olivia, initially didn’t believe the speculation about her parents’ marriage, meaning her mum had to be the bearer of bad news.
Jennifer and her plastic surgeon husband, Dr. Bill Aydin, share five children together. Bill cheated on her over a decade ago while she was pregnant with their fourth child, son Christian.
“We had a blogger leak this awful storyline and somebody made a TikTok on it,” the reality star told the publication. “My sweet little Olivia — who threw a beautiful anniversary party for us [filmed on Season 11] to show how her parents are still in love — saw a TikTok that said ‘the big secret.’”
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Heartbreakingly, the 9-year-old tried to defend her dad from what she believed to be a hurtful lie, commenting, “This is my mommy and daddy and this is not true!”
“She came to me to show me her comment and said, ‘Look mommy, I’m defending you from all of these lies,’” Jennifer said.
With Season 12 of RHONJ going into production and talk of the affair circulating online, she knew there was no escaping having to tell her kids the truth.
The mum-of-five asked her daughter to delete the comment, knowing it was untrue as Bill, 43, had indeed cheated on her with a pharmaceutical rep before Olivia was born.
“I said, ‘It’s for the show and it’s not good if we release things, so maybe we shouldn’t draw attention.’ I had her take it down that way,” said Jennifer, who wanted to buy some time before figuring out how to broach the delicate subject with the kids.
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“I sat her down and I kept my composure because I realised [my kids] will react to however Mommy’s acting,” she explained. “I put on a brave face and said, ‘Listen, Daddy did a bad thing. But that doesn’t mean that he’s a bad person. And when we love people, we forgive them when they make mistakes. And I’ve forgiven him and I’m OK.’ She wasn’t upset because I wasn’t upset.”
The couple have since discussed Bill’s infidelity with the rest of their kids – Justin, 17, Gabriella, 14, Jacob, 12, and Christian, now 10. Each of the kids processed the news differently, Jennifer revealed.
“My husband told Justin. I was in the room, and Justin kind of was almost irritated, like, ‘I don’t ever want to talk about this ever again.’ He’s not watching this season,” she admitted.
“My Gabriella, she was more crushed. She felt very betrayed and was angry for a bit but we got through that. And my two [younger] boys, they’re neither here nor there.
“And Olivia, now that she sees that Mommy’s OK with it, she’ll be like, ‘Mommy, do they know about “the secret,” too?’ And I’ll say, ‘Yeah, but it’s not a secret anymore and we’re OK with talking about it. And she’ll say, ‘Oh yeah, that’s right.’
“So remember, children will learn by example. As long as I’m cool and not breaking down, I think they’ll be okay.”
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Despite Jennifer “never once” mentioning the affair to loved ones or her fellow Housewives, it’s likely going to prominently feature in the new season (which premiered Tuesday night in the US on Bravo and is now available to watch over here on Hayu) after being brought up on-camera by her co-star, Margaret Josephs.
“You do not want Margaret to be your enemy. She is a digger and she could find out things. She’s got a big Rolodex of people in her friend group,” Jennifer told Page Six.
“I wouldn’t put anything past her. She’s very focused when she wants to find out something about somebody.
“I never told a soul. I didn’t tell my parents, I didn’t tell my cousins, I didn’t tell my sister, I didn’t tell my best friend. I put it in the vault and threw away the key. I pretended it never happened.
“I have never brought it up as a dig. Because when you decide to forgive somebody, you really have to forgive it and never bring it up. Otherwise, your relationship is not going to work,” she added.
Though she intended on taking her husband’s infidelity to the grave, Jennifer said that since it’s now out in the open, she finds speaking about it cathartic.
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“[Bill] supported me in the sense of letting me share our story, which I think is very brave of him… I didn’t want to be the one to bring it up and ever talk about it because that would be at the expense of my children and it wasn’t worth it for me,” she said.
“But since [Margaret] did bring it up and since I do have to talk about it, I’m going to use it as therapy and find it cathartic and therapeutic. Signing up for this show, that’s what I agreed to do — to show the good, the bad and the ugly. It’s not easy.”
