Teresa Giudice says youngest daughters don't yet know she's going to prison

In her first interview since being sentenced to 15 months in prison, Teresa Giudice said she's learned a lesson about reading documents before signing them and that her youngest daughters do not yet know about the sentence.

"The Real Housewives of New Jersey" star revealed that her eldest daughter, 13-year-old Gia, is the only one of her four children who knows she and husband Joe Giudice are facing jail time.

"She was being strong for me, I could tell," Teresa told Bravo's Andy Cohen in the interview, which aired Monday night. "She said, 'Mommy, don't worry about it. I'll be there. I'll help daddy with the girls. That will make me a better mom. That'll prepare me for when I'm a mom.' It broke my heart when she said that."

As for their other daughters -- Milania, Gabriella and Audriana -- Teresa admitted, "I don't know what I'm gonna say yet."

Not all was revealed in the couple's interview, which was taped Friday and aired Monday night. In fact, as the couple articulated (if that wasn't too grand a term) their dual plight, their responses were largely a thicket of stammers, sentence fragments, whatevers and y'knows.

"I feel like I'm numb. Like surreal. All's I keep thinking about is my daughters," said the glum Teresa, who was seated beside Joe in matching wingchairs, holding his hand, as they were questioned by Cohen in the interview special that was taped last Friday.

"I mean, of course, I was shocked," she added. "You know, it was very unexpected. I don't even know what to say. I really don't know what to say."

"I actually felt like I got hit in the back of the neck by a bat," said Joe, describing his reaction to the sentencing the day before. He elaborated: "I don't know. It is what it is."

Appearing in federal court in Newark, New Jersey, Teresa, 42, had been sentenced to 15 months while her husband, 43, was handed 41 months. In a nod to the couple's four young daughters, the judge staggered the sentences so Teresa will serve her sentence first. She is scheduled to report to prison Jan. 5.

The couple had pleaded guilty in March, admitting they hid assets from bankruptcy creditors and submitted phony loan applications to get some $5 million in mortgages and construction loans. Joe also pleaded guilty to failing to pay taxes totaling more than $200,000.

"I expected me (to get jail time). I wasn't expecting her," said Joe. "She had no part in my businesses or whatever. She really didn't."

Asked how such things went so awry, the couple seemed to be trying to explain.

"Whatever Joe told me to sign, I would sign," said Teresa, declaring she had never made a habit of reading or understanding legal documents.

"I do need to read things before I sign them," she added. "I do need to understand things before I sign them. I'm a trustworthy person. Sometimes I take what other people say and I believe them and I trust them. I can't do that anymore. I've got to make sure I fully understand something or read it or find a lawyer, like a contract lawyer, that can help me."

Cohen asked Joe if HE knew the questionable nature of the contracts he was handing his wife.

"Just whatever the bank gave me for her to sign," he replied.

"But you were taking out false loans," Cohen pointed out.

"All right, whatever," Joe said. "I was taking out false loans."

No real excuse came to light for the illegal practices, and both Giudices denied that any appetite for living large had put them in financial distress.

On the contrary, they insisted they are thrifty with their money.

When Cohen, at Joe's prompting, guessed that his suit cost $600, Joe corrected the record: "Two suits, two shirts, two ties for $250 -- and they tailor it," he said proudly.

But losing any smugness, he said he was more worried about his wife's imprisonment than his own.

"If you stick me with a knife I wouldn't even feel it, y'know?"

Teresa predicted she would manage in prison without the fancy dresses and makeup that are part of her "Housewives" persona ("I'll just slick my hair back and go about my day"), and vowed to keep her famous temper in check ("No one can push my buttons anymore").

Her greatest regret as she faces imprisonment is separation from her daughters, she said, while her greatest concern is for their welfare while being separated from their mom.

Asked how he feels as he faces Teresa's imminent incarceration and his role as single parent, Joe replied, "It's gonna be a lot of work. But they're my daughters and I gotta do what I gotta do."

Then, with a rueful laugh, he added, "I guess I'm gonna be the housewife."