The Real Housewives of Rhode Island cast member Rulla Nehme Pontarelli confirmed her husband Brian Pontarelli’s past affair during Episode 2, before revealing even more details on The Real Housewives of Rhode Island After Show.
Rulla recounted how Liz McGraw texted her “in the middle of the night” back in December 2024, after Brian’s mistress posted “a couple pictures” on Instagram of them kissing and her sitting on his lap.
“Apparently, they were, like, up for about 15 minutes and then taken down, but long enough for certain people to see,” she explained, referring to the fact that Jo-Ellen Tiberi, who had known the other woman for roughly eight years, had taken screenshots of the images and sent them to Liz.
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After talking to Liz the next morning, Rulla confronted her husband of nine years, with whom she shares two children, son Luca, 8, and daughter Laila, 5.
“I hung up the phone with her and, you know, turn to Brian, who was at home, and I said, ‘Is there something that you want to tell me before I have to find out from Liz or anybody else?'” she continued. “He got a little nervous — a lot nervous — yeah, and it was a whole thing.”
Because Rulla “actually had the pictures” at that point, she said that Brian couldn’t feasibly deny the affair, but said he was “definitely downplaying everything” at first.
Rulla Nehme Pontarelli unpacks her reaction to discovering her husband’s affair
Rulla further shared that she “went from, like, livid to numb to, like, tears,” when she found out about Brian’s affair.
“After the cat came out of the bag, I wanted to handle things my own way,” she added on the RHORI After Show. “There was a lot more togetherness. He was making changes. That person was no longer involved. I had to make sure that I knew his whereabouts. I had to make sure that he was very present.”
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Rulla also unpacked the reason why her husband’s infidelity was so unexpected.
“He was home with me,” she explained. “And he’d be around on the weekends, most weekends. He was home every single night. He never slept out. … So, you know, you’d think maybe sometimes a guy will take a vacation, he’ll disappear for a bit, he won’t call you all day, you know. It was very bizarre.”
Rulla Nehme Pontarelli reacts to Liz McGraw’s claim that her husband’s affair is ongoing
When the subject arose during RHORI‘s April 5 episode, Liz claimed that Brian was “still doing his thing with this woman.” However, Rulla insisted that the affair was “not still ongoing” and challenged anyone to prove otherwise.
“I was, like, sitting there thinking she’s just, like, talking way too much to Jo-Ellen, who, for some reason, has this, like, vendetta against me,” Rula said in a separate After Show clip, referring to her dinner with Liz and Kelsey Swanson in Episode 2.
“She said she’s trying to help me,” Rula added, before referring to the alleged infidelity in Liz’s marriage that also came up on RHORI. “I just don’t like it when people talk out of two sides of their mouth.”
Liz, for her part, insisted on the After Show that she had simply been trying to prevent Rulla from looking like an “idiot,” but her friend had simply refused to “acknowledge what’s really going on” anyway.
“I was trying to make her maybe take a different approach,” Liz elaborated. “My intentions weren’t bad. They weren’t.”
Inside Rulla and Brian’s conversation about his affair on RHORI
Following her dinner with Liz and Kelsey on RHORI, Rulla sat down with Brian to discuss the ongoing chatter about his affair.
“It’s just killing me ’cause everybody in this state has made it their business, and everybody in the group has made it their business to talk about us,” she told him. “Like, instead of firing away on stuff you don’t know, like, come and speak with the source.”
Brian, for his part, responded, “What happened last year, happened last year. It’s in the past. I just wanna move forward.”
Rulla went on to say that she was “really just tired of everybody making it way bigger than what it is and making it their business,” to which her husband replied, “We know we’re strong, and obviously I’m with you. I let you track me. You know where I am every second. I love my wife; I love my family. Like, they’re just jealous, you know?”
When a producer asked if Rulla had forgiven Brian, however, she admitted, “I’m still working on that.”
As the two navigate all the gossip surrounding their marriage, get a sneak peek at all the drama ahead on RHORI Season 1.
