‘Fuhgeddabout Christmas’ Director: It Was ‘A Dream Come True’ To Cast Teresa Giudice (Exclusive)

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Teresa Giudice, 50, has been a fan favorite on Real Housewives of New Jersey since the Bravo reality show launched in 2009, and that’s exactly why writer director Justina Valentine wanted the iconic ‘Queen of Jersey’ for her new VH1 original holiday movie, ‘Fuhgeddabout Christmas,’ which premieres tonight at 8pm.  The ‘Wild ‘n Out’ star wrote, directed and produced the festive flick, set in her home-town of New Jersey, and she told HollywoodLife in an EXCLUSIVE interview why Teresa was at the top of her casting list. “I am a Teresa fan. I always tell her, ‘You’re the queen of Jersey.’ She’s amazing. She’s such a nice person in real life. And she’s just so fun.”

“The movie is a mockumentary, and we have confessionals, and we all know if anyone shines in a confessional, it’s Teresa,” Justina continued. “I just needed her to pull up and be herself and who better at being themselves than Teresa Giudice, she bodies her role. And it was so cool for her to come through because she was actually filming for ‘Housewives’ the same day she filmed for me. She’s booked and busy but she made time to come through and she was so cute.”

Teresa wasn’t the only “busy” star to make time for the hilarious holiday movie — Nick Cannon, 42, also fit the shoot into his packed schedule. “Nick’s always the type, he’s always gonna support you,” Justina said of the ‘Wild ‘n Out’ creator. “I think that with him being such a mogul himself, I think when he sees people that he’s taken under his wing, starting to do things like this he’s happy. He definitely thinks it’s a dope thing to see us go out on our own and leave the nest. When I asked him to do it, he was like, ‘Yeah, I got you,’ but I just didn’t know if he would physically be able to fit it in his schedule between like, all his TV shows, all his kids, all his businesses, all his jobs. You know, Nick, ‘Keep A Job’ Cannon. That man is working. So the fact that he was actually physically able to clear his schedule for me to come through and make a cameo I am so grateful for that. And you know, he is the real Saint Nick.”

Nick will be extra busy this holiday season being Santa to his 11 kids — with another one due any day now. But, fortunately he’s got a seemingly endless list of gigs — including host of The Masked Singer — to keep all their stockings full. As fans of Nick know, he isn’t just a host, actor and producer, he’s also a singer and rapper — a skill he brought to the set of ‘Fuhgeddabout Christmas.’ In a purely unscripted moment the ‘If I Was Your Man’ singer dropped a freestyle for the cameras. “We actually got a little rap out of Nick in there,” Justina shared. “He threw in a little freestyle too. He pulled up on set, we were like this is what it’s about and then he just put his little Nick Cannon flavor on it and it crushed it.”