The Real Housewives of Rhode Island‘s Rulla Nehme Pontarelli is standing by husband Brian Pontarelli. Despite her uncertainty amid infidelity claims and a stunning reveal during the Season 1 finale that he was arrested for allegedly placing an electronic tracking device on her vehicle, Rulla updated viewers on The Real Housewives of Rhode Island After Show that she and Brian are still together today.
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The Real Housewives of Rhode Island airs Sundays at 9 p.m. ET. Episodes stream next day on Peacock.
Cameras picked back up on RHORI in October 2025, with local news footage shown in Episode 12 detailing that Brian had pleaded not guilty to a misdemeanor domestic violence charge. In the aftermath of Brian’s arrest, Rulla also reportedly filed a no-contact order against her husband. As she explained to several of her castmates, “Brian, unfortunately, was arrested for tracking me in my car, and apparently that falls under domestic violence in the State of Rhode Island. It’s considered like stalking.”
On the RHORI After Show, which was filmed in February 2026, Rulla insisted that her and Brian’s relationship is actually “better than ever” now. “It’s almost like we rekindled what we always had, but obviously now, I’m very, you know, cautious, day by day,” she said. “I’ve been taking things step by step, like with a different perspective. And I see Brian now, and he treats me like he always did before, but even 10 times better.”
RELATED: Rulla Reveals How She Really Felt About the Video of Brian and His Mistress (EXCLUSIVE)
In addition to putting “all his effort” into her and their two children, son Luca, 8, and daughter Laila, 5, Rulla noted that Brian has been “repenting his sins” in church and also going to therapy. Now, they are even “sleeping in the same bed,” she shared.
“The reason why I, like, made certain decisions to kind of continue on is just because of who I am and what I consider to be important,” Rulla explained. “That is all, you know, in the past. Major, major series of mistakes, but it’s definitely water well under the bridge, dead and buried, where it should be.”
Rulla Nehme Pontarelli addresses criticism about her decision to “work on things” with Brian
In a separate interview with BravoTV.com, Rulla admitted that “it hasn’t been easy” for her and Brian to relive the “hard times” in their marriage while watching the season back. “People don’t realize a lot of what I was experiencing was being learned in real time or after the fact,” she noted. “That made it all the more difficult.”
And, yes, Rulla is aware that some viewers and fans may not understand why she “chose to handle some of these things” the way that she did. To those critics, she would say, “I just hope that they know that there’s no textbook on how to navigate all this, and especially when you are living it in real time. It’s hard being in the public eye and also experiencing trauma.”
Rulla reiterated that she’s “chosen to work on things with Brian” because she knows “all the aspects of our love and marriage that viewers don’t get to see.”
RELATED: Rulla Nehme Pontarelli Shares Unaired Details of Her Husband’s Affair (EXCLUSIVE)
“I know all the truths and the depths of what we have,” she elaborated. “Our family is very important to us. He realizes that he made some bad mistakes at sort of this midpoint in his life that have produced consequences he would have never imagined. He has been depressed over it. He’s been sick over it.”
Rulla continued, “But post-filming, post-season and on, we’ve been doing a lot together to just strengthen everything that we had previously. In some ways, it’s better than it ever was before. And others, I’m still working to repair. Brian, deep down to his core, is a wonderful person who’s made some very great mistakes. And I think the one thing I’d like people to remember is this is not OK. And he has not had it easy from me.”
Rulla Nehme Pontarelli reflects on Jo-Ellen bringing the cheating allegations to light on RHORI
One thing Rulla wanted to set the record straight on was that she “was not after” castmate Jo-Ellen Tiberi for bringing the photos and video of Brian and his mistress to her attention. “I was upset with Jo-Ellen for having shared pictures with everyone else first,” she clarified.
And even though Rulla “didn’t beg for the info,” she pointed out that she’d still thanked Jo-Ellen for looking out for her anyway. “After I did express my gratitude, she went ahead to hurt us more,” Rulla claimed. “I don’t know if she was excited spreading information. You know, she loves gossip. I think we all know that about her. I wouldn’t have said and done the things that I did or felt the way that I felt, or feel, if she hadn’t gone around perpetuating more information.”
Had the situation been reversed, Rulla believes she would have gone to Jo-Ellen personally and not made it her business “to keep digging or meet with the mistress or spread things around the group.”
“But again, Brian and I know our truths,” Rulla stated. “And that’s just what I would like our fans to know. We know our truths. We appreciate the people who are rooting for us. We appreciate the people who know that marriages have severe ups and downs. And that there is a way to get past that. For some, you might not be, and you might end up on the other side. But when it comes to couples, and then couples with families, I think you say more about who you are and how you feel about your marriage if you actually try.”
She concluded, “It’s so much easier for people to walk out the door. And it’s very easy to judge if you have not been in these exact shoes.”
Why Rulla Nehme Pontarelli is confident that Brian’s affair is “in the past”
Another thing “people might not realize,” Rulla said, is “how toxic” Brian’s former mistress had allegedly been. “I understand that she might have been hurt by going after someone who was married and maybe wanted a life that she didn’t have for all the wrong reasons,” she added. “But I think what needs to be understood is you generally don’t end up the winner when you go after someone who wasn’t yours to begin with.”
As far as Rulla’s concerned, Brian has already “proven that with his actions,” post-filming, but she declined to shed more light on her statement.
On the RHORI After Show, a producer questioned why Rulla was “so confident” that Brian’s affair is over and in the past. “I just know. Trust me, I’m all over it,” she answered. “When you go through something like this, there’s trauma. There’s a lot of trauma that you have to overcome. You know, I still have healing, and that’ll be sort of like a long road ahead.”
Don’t miss a sneak peek at Rulla and Brian facing more tough questions about their marriage in the RHORI Season 1 reunion trailer.
—Reporting by Stephanie Gomulka
