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Rulla Nehme Pontarelli never anticipated that her marriage to Brian Pontarelli would become a focal point on the new Bravo series, The Real Housewives of Rhode Island.
Rulla made her first appearance on the second episode of the show, which aired on Sunday, April 2. Right from the start, the spotlight was on her ongoing conflict with fellow cast member Jo-Ellen Tiberi.
In a candid confessional, Rulla opened up about her turbulent relationship with Jo-Ellen. “Jo-Ellen and I have definitely had ups and downs,” she admitted. “She works in the beauty industry, and my husband Brian and I have many connections there. She seems friendly and bubbly, but that’s not always the case.”
Over lunch with co-stars Liz McGraw and Kelsey Swanson, Rulla revealed that Jo-Ellen had been spreading rumors about her. Liz, in her own confessional, mentioned that there’s widespread gossip throughout Rhode Island suggesting that Brian might have “a mistress.”
The alleged scandal began when Liz heard about “photos online” depicting Brian with another woman. In an effort to find clarity, Liz connected Rulla with Jo-Ellen, who reportedly had seen the photos herself.
“At first, I thought that Jo-Ellen was trying to be supportive and help me because that’s what it sounded like,” Rulla claimed in her confessional. “Until I learned that she had shared the pictures with the whole group and was running her mouth around town about it.”
Rulla claimed that Brian was seeing this alleged other woman in summer 2024, but it had come to an end. Liz alluded to something still going on involving Brian.
“It’s pretty out there that Brian is still doing his thing with this woman,” Liz claimed in her confessional. “If Rulla chooses to not acknowledge what’s really going on and live in that land of delusion. I’m sorry, Elizabeth is allergic to bulls***.”
Bravo The Real Housewives of Rhode Island is officially here — but who makes up the cast? News broke at BravoCon in November 2025 when Andy Cohen confirmed that the premiere season will follow Alicia Carmody, Rosie DiMare, Ashley Iaconetti, Liz McGraw, Rulla Nehme Pontarelli, Kelsey Swanson and Jo-Ellen Tiberi as they navigate the highs and […]
Elsewhere in the episode, Jo-Ellen explained her side of the story, claiming she’s getting the “brunt of the blame” from Rulla after Brian’s affair. “I shared a picture that the mistress posted on the internet,” Jo-Ellen said, alleging that Rulla and Brian tried to get her fired after the fact — but it seems a further discussion on that point will be coming later in the season.
Both Jo-Ellen and Rulla discussed how this drama impacts the rest of the season during an exclusive interview with Us Weekly.
“What happened to Rulla is really unfortunate. It’s not a secret, I’m not a fan of Rulla’s husband. I don’t think he’s a great person, and I think she is,” Jo-Ellen told Us. “I think she’s a really smart, brilliant, beautiful woman who doesn’t deserve some of the things that he put her through.”
Rulla, meanwhile, does not think Jo-Ellen is really on her side.
“I know that if you ask anyone in Rhode Island, those people who actually know maybe Jo-Ellen in her past and her practices and her character, I think they would agree that she’s not the most credible, not the most authentic source,” Rulla claimed. “When she just continued to kind of push harder and bring more to the group and bring more to the state and the city that she lives in, I just thought to myself, ‘What is her objective here?’”
New episodes of The Real Housewives of Rhode Island premiere on Bravo on Sundays at 9 p.m. ET and stream via Peacock the next day.