RHONJ-Marty-Caffrey

Exclusive Interview: Marty Caffrey On Divorce From Danielle Staub & The Margaret Josephs Pool Push

Even though Danielle Staub wasn’t a full-time cast member (again), the first half of Real Housewives of New Jersey Season 9 centered around the preparation for her wedding with Marty Caffrey. As if the bridezilla antics weren’t cringe-worthy enough to watch, the whole storyline wreaked of awkwardness knowing that Danielle and Marty called it quits just two months into the marriage.

It was also tough to see Marty going to bat on Danielle’s behalf knowing that just a few months later their split would get very nasty. Marty didn’t go down (literally) without a fight. He ended up in Jennifer Aydin’s pool after Margaret Josephs pushed him in. There has been a lot of chatter about the recently divorced pair. Now, Marty is opening up to Reality Tea to share his side of the story. In an exclusive interview, he discussed everything from the wedding to the pool push, and even his idea for a spin-off show with Danielle and Teresa Giudice.

When the divorce was finalized, both Marty and Danielle shared some eloquently-worded statements via their representatives. Danielle also showed off her middle fingers outside of the courthouse that same day. Clearly, they’re handling their taking different approaches to the breakup.

Marty remarked, “There was a tape of her giving me the finger and all that. I guess that’s added effect for cameras, which is important to her.” In his statement, Marty included, “Looking back on our relationship, it is hard to reconcile that the camera and the show were more important to her than her relationship was with me. I do think the show led to the destruction of our relationship.”

So was it the show itself or Danielle’s desire to be a relevant cast member the true cause for the downfall in their relationship? Marty admitted, “That’s a good question. I think those things are related. Our relationship was completely different when Season 9 began to film.”

He reflected, “There was a major turn of behavior at that time. I attributed a lot of that to it’s stressful filming and planning a wedding. Both individually, so when you put it together, it could be a lot.” Fair, but did she really need to flip out over wet hair and the price of gifts? Shouldn’t she be grateful to receive any gift at all? And for the screentime as a part-time cast member.

Marty declared, “The show and her and her inability to separate that from her personal life attributed to the end of our relationship.”

Marty looked back on his relationship before Danielle’s reality TV resurrection return. He said, “When I met her, she was not on the show. When I got to know her better and I saw her potential and her desire to get back on the show, I committed myself to supporting that effort.”

How so? Marty said, “I put some money in to get her out of some situations. I financially supported her for a bit there. And I put her into a really nice place so she could launch [her comeback]. I compare it to seeing a great athlete on the field who has no team to play on. So the athlete needs exposure for his career if that’s what he wants.” And Danielle got just that: a lot of exposure. But did it “help her career”? That’s up for debate. Along with the question of “what is her career?”

Unfortunately, Marty revealed, “She rarely, if ever, showed appreciation for that at the end of the day. It got into her head that she was important because of the show. ”

Marty told us, “Any time I was in some sort of conflict, like with the Joes for example. What was I doing? I was defending her. All I was doing was defending her. So, I had her back.” And, of course, this led to the discussion of that instantly iconic pool scene.

Marty insisted, “They didn’t show much of what led up to that.
If anyone saw the full scene, they would be saying ‘Joe Benigno, how dare you?!’ He said a lot of things about Danielle that prompted me to defend her.”
Exclusive Interview: Marty Caffrey On Divorce From Danielle Staub & The Margaret Josephs Pool Push
Marty claimed, “When I was out by the pool, Joe Benigno was coming at me pretty hard. He was saying some nasty things about Danielle. They just weren’t aired. Very nasty things. Joe talked about her breasts and how she constantly shows them with low cut outfits. He said, ‘She’s disgusting, she’s a shit starter, she’s manipulative.’ He just out of the blue started on her to me, her husband.”
Marty continued, “So what do I do? I get in his face and say ‘You should apologize to me for the things you said about Danielle. Not just today at the pool, but in Bimini and at Teresa’s daughter’s musical recital.’
He’s talking about her breasts and disparaging her as ‘being disgusting.’ I said ‘Why do you keep staring at them? Are you jealous?’ That’s when the jealous clip came up.'” Oh, editing.
Marty recalled, “I said ‘You’re jealous because Margaret doesn’t have it.’ I didn’t body shame her. I just said she doesn’t have what Danielle has.” Ugh.
Marty added, “When Margaret came out to the pool, she said ‘What’s going on here?’ So, I said ‘Joe, are you going to come at me two against one, now?’ They didn’t show this part, but Margaret goes ‘Joe said, you said I was ugly.’ I go, ‘Joe, I never said Margaret was ugly. She’s beautiful, just not as beautiful as Danielle. You would say the same thing and so would any man with a wife.’ Margaret looks at Joe and slaps him on the shoulder. She says, ‘Joe, why did you lie to me?’ But that didn’t work. They had to confront me. They had to ratchet it up.” Well, it was the finale party. It would have been a very anti-climactic ending if the push didn’t happen.
There’s more though. Marty claimed, “So, then she said ‘I heard you called me an opportunist.’ So I said ‘I did say that and I will continue to say that.’ They took those words ‘I did say that and I will continue to say that’ and clipped it to be about her body.”
Why did he say that she is an opportunist? Marty told Margaret, “I think you’re an opportunist because Danielle was your friend and supporter in your feud with Siggy [Flicker]. Now that Siggy isn’t around, you have no use for Danielle anymore. You cut ties with her. To me, that’s being an opportunist.”
Then, Marty explained, “With the ’emasculation’ part and Joe ‘getting bitch slapped when they go home’, she hit Joe’s shoulder for lying to her when I called her beautiful, that’s why I said that. She just hit him on the shoulder.” Very interesting.

After all of that, what does Marty think about Margaret, Joe, and the other cast members? Surprisingly enough, he shared, “I would say that I have a friendly relationship with all of them. I’m very close with Margaret and Joe. The reason is that they know what the finale didn’t show. They know what happened at the pool and I didn’t come after her. Joe came after me and Danielle. They know that. They don’t harbor any animosity toward me.” And get ready for this one. Marty added, “We’re good. In fact, I’m having lunch with Joe tomorrow.”

Marty also emphasized that he appreciated Margaret’s advice to Danielle about his children. Marty said, “Danielle was taking the approach ‘I’m not going to stop Marty from having a relationship with his children. They’re just not going to be around me.’ How do you expect a relationship to survive that? It doesn’t make any sense. Margaret tried to make that point clear and Danielle became so stuck on her celebrity that she wasn’t going to change for anything.”

Marty explained, “Danielle didn’t respect what b was saying and didn’t even take it into consideration. So, I think Margaret lost some respect for Danielle there. Then, her bridezilla behavior with treating everyone like shit kind of turned Margaret off too.” Kind of? It was a lot more than “kind of” a turnoff. For the bridesmaids and the viewers.

Ultimately, it seems like Marty and Danielle’s split was for the best. Marty revealed, “Most of my kids haven’t been to this house. Why? Because Danielle doesn’t want them.” The house that they are both still living in. A house that Marty solely pays for. Yes, even during their tumultuous split, they still lived under the same roof. Now that would have made for some interesting television.
Not that it is (legally) over, Marty seems to have a good take on the situation. He wishes her the best, even when it comes to her love life. In fact, he actually shared an idea for a reality show that could work if Teresa and Joe Giudice split up after his release from prison.
Marty said, “I have no way of knowing anything on that, but if that happens. If Joe gets deported and she’s no longer married, they should start a show with Teresa and Danielle dating. Not each other. A dating show with the two of them going out to clubs together and meeting guys. I think that would be fun.” And Marty could be the producer. Not that he seems to want any party in reality TV ever again, but if this ever did happen, he should at least get some credit for the idea.
TELL US- WHAT DID YOU THINK ABOUT OUR INTERVIEW WITH MARTY CAFFREY? DOES HIS TAKE ON THE POOL SCENE LINE UP TO YOU? ARE YOU SURPRISED THAT HE IS ON GOOD TERMS WITH MARGARET JOSEPHS & JOE BENIGNO? SHOULD TERESA GIUDICE & DANIELLE STAUB GET A DATING SHOW?
[Photo Credit: Bravo]
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