RHONJ’s Jenn Fessler Reveals Affairs Led to Separation From Husband Jeff
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The Real Housewives of New Jersey star Jenn Fessler revealed that she and husband Jeff Fessler hit a rough patch seven years into their marriage.
“My marriage was definitely not my priority at that time, and it wasn’t for Jeff either,” Jenn, 54, shared during an episode of the “I Do Part 2” podcast, released on Thursday, February 20. “We were just not connecting. We were not connecting on an emotional level, and we were not connecting on a physical level.”
Jenn candidly shared that she “eventually” discovered that Jeff was having an affair.
“That was a hard day. Podcast is not long enough for me to get into all of the details of it all, but I will tell you that it was a very strange thing,” Jenn recalled. “This woman, that Jeff was involved with, and I had this conversation, and I don’t know, I knew almost immediately that something was up. But that’s not the point of this whole big picture story. But I, as you would expect, completely lost my mind.”
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The Bravo star did admit that she wasn’t completely innocent, explaining that she was “out there” with friends on every Thursday night to drink and “flirt with guys.” Initially, Jenn said that she “didn’t have an affair” but started to “check out” other men.
“I started to crave that attention that I did for years from men,” Jenn explained. (Elsewhere in the episode, Jenn did say: “I’m honest about Jeff’s affair, and about, then I had my own affairs, plural.”)
Jenn explained that felt a certain type of way after Jeff was the one to step out of their marriage first.
“I guess I knew there was a part of me that knew that not only does it take two, but I almost felt lucky that it was him first, because I could place all the blame on him,” she added. “But I had been flirting with other guys and whatever. I know that I was headed in that direction.”
They stayed together for a year following the affair before officially separating. (Jenn noted that she went to see her sister in Florida and found a “little boyfriend” of her own.)
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Jenn and Jeff were separated for nearly two years, with neither of them making moves to divorce, before getting back together. During their separation, Jenn had a new boyfriend but at one point, she started meeting up with Jeff to talk about their relationship. (Jenn and Jeff are the parents to son Zachary, 24, and daughter Rachel, 22.)
“He was so certain that we were making a mistake the whole time. And I think I was … I knew in my heart that it was a mistake,” she continued. “I just didn’t want to live my life without Jeff Fessler.”
Jenn said that her “life began again” when she and Jeff reconciled and are “best friends” to this day.
“We do the best we can and we fight and we have unhappy moments and unhappy periods of time,” she added. “I feel very, very lucky to have made my marriage work.”