RHONJ's Margaret Josephs Says Her Husband Was Hospitalized After 'Entire Family' Got COVID

Margaret Josephs recently opened up about being diagnosed with COVID before the holidays

Margaret Josephs
Margaret Josephs. Photo: Ben Gabbe/Getty

Real Housewives of New Jersey star Margaret Josephs is opening up about her family’s battle with the novel coronavirus last month.

In a recent Instagram video, Josephs and her Caviar Dreams, Tuna Fish Budget podcast co-host Lexi Barbuto shared they had been offline in recent weeks due to their COVID-19 diagnosis.

“We’ve been MIA and we’ve had COVID — the entire family,” began the reality star, 53.

“We didn’t want to talk about it during Christmas because who wants to talk about COVID during Christmas,” she added, before sharing that they have all since tested negative and are “better now.”

The pair further opened up about their experience with the illness during the latest episode of the podcast, sharing that Joseph’s mom Marge Sr. got infected as well as her husband, Joe Benigno, who ended up needing to be hospitalized.

“Joe and I got it the worst out of our entire crew,” Josephs said, noting that they battled the illness for about 17 days after testing positive the week before Christmas.

“[Joe] actually had to go to the hospital — he had a 104 fever,” she added. “He got an antibody that made him better but he was getting fevers for 7 or 8 days.”

Because their diagnosis came just before the holiday season, Josephs said she spent Christmas with just her husband.

“Joe and I were alone in the bed with the dog,” she said. “It was disheartening and depressing.”

She also shared some of the mental symptoms she experienced, including feeling like she had to “reevaluate” her life.

“It was rough and it also f---- with your head,” she said. “I was having crazy thoughts, I was reevaluating my life, having deep discussions. I was like ‘Do I want to live here? Do I want to stay in New Jersey? What kind of life is this?’”

“You don’t want to f------ get this and you don’t want to give this to someone else,” she said.

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