RHONJ: The Warrior Video, Explained

Real Housewives of New Jersey is rarely short on drama, but one of the current topics of conversation on the show is a viral video featuring Teresa Giudice’s husband Luis Ruelas. What’s all the fuss about? Here’s RHONJ’s The Warrior video explained.

What’s RHONJ’s The Warrior Video Drama About?

The video in question, which surfaced on Reddit, is a short clip of Luis Ruelas addressing a woman, apparently an ex, talking about how much he cares about her. What’s unusual is that he’s surrounded by a group of largely shirtless men, all looking into the camera.

You can watch the video here, and if you’ve only heard about it through RHONJ, you might be expecting something truly, truly bizarre. But it’s not the weirdest thing you’ll find on the internet, not by a long stretch. At least, not at first.

“I’ve been here a week, these are my brothers, this is my coach Kevin,” Ruelas continues. “I love you, and I love our family together. I love our children and I hope you receive this message well.” However, just when it looks like his message is over, a voice from behind the camera starts telling him to use his heart, not his brain, encouraging him to be honest.

“I feel like this is what they show at the beginning of an episode of Dateline,” one of the Redditors writes. But there’s nothing particularly new about men’s retreats, they’ve been happening for years.

After the on-screen and off-screen drama surrounding the video, Luis ultimately gave some context (via TooFab), though Theresa didn’t feel she needed to know.

“I grew up with a lot of trauma in my life. A friend of mine went out and started this thing called Warrior out in California and a lot of men go revisit their pain, to see their pain, get clarity,” he said, “So I went to apologize to a woman for not being honest and saying it’s over. Does that make any sense to you?”

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Yes, this is where it actually does get weird. As pointed out on the show, the video doesn’t seem like a breakup video but was apparently made with that intent. So the retreat’s idea of honesty was to say the exact opposite thing? That seems a little off.

Is the video a massive red flag? On its own, no. Ruelas has exhibited some other questionable behaviour, including wearing Giudice’s father’s pyjama (via Decider). And, as reported by Page Six, he said on the show that he hopes Margaret Joseph’s son suffers (he’s since apologised). But this is reality TV, subject to a lot of editing, so it’s unclear just how much of what we see on RHONJ is genuine.

So, the explanation for RHONJ’s The Warrior video is that Teresa Giudice’s husband Luis Ruelas attended a men’s retreat a few years ago. And, with the support of the other attendees, he made the video as a way of breaking up with someone.