Real Housewives of Orange County newbie Noella Bergener has been going through it during this season of the show.
After dealing with her husband “Sweet James” Bergener fleeing to Puerto Rico, being served divorce papers (with flowers?!), and not getting along with “thirsty” castmate Dr. Jennifer Armstrong, it looks like things are starting to take a lighter turn for Noella as it is being reported she’s dating a new man.
Less than a year after their separation, Noella is spilling the details on her new “relationship.”
“There’s somebody I’ve known for years,” Noella, 36, revealed during an episode of Us Weekly’s Getting Real with the Housewives podcast.
“He knew me married and knew my husband. That’s not weird at all, but we just have a lot of love and respect for each other,” she said.
Noella’s not naming the mystery man, but she said that he really came to her in her time of need during her heartbreaking separation from James.
“He was one of those that just constantly checked in on me,” she shared. “Like the moment James left, just like, ‘How are you? Did you need anything? Do the kids need anything?’ Like one of those.”
Noella went on to say that the two have been seeing one another for about a month.
“It’s just slow. It’s very, very fresh,” she stated. “So, who knows. At the end of the day, I have an amazing friend, but right now, we’re friends who kiss.”
In other RHOC news, Noella appeared on last night’s Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen and spilled some tea on what red flags she missed in her early days with James.
After a fan asked via video chat what red flags she saw looking back with now-clear eyes, she said she absolutely would not have stayed in her marriage.
“I still have no idea why he left, he gave me no explanation and will still tell me he loves me, so that’s confusing,” she said. She then followed up with, “On my part now, I understand now that I really lost myself and my self-love and self-care some time ago, so working through building that up, so yeah, if I was the woman I am today, I probably would not have stayed in this marriage as long as I did.”
Noella also went on to talk about the fallout between Heather Dubrow and Shannon Beador and if she’s still friends with Nicole James.
After Andy said Heather “really made Shannon eat dirt” at Emily Simpson’s party, Noella did not hold back on her take on the spat.
“It doesn’t shock me now that I know Heather. But to watch it back was very painful. That was, it was just cruel,” she answered. “It was completely cruel, but it’s kind of in [Heather’s] character.”
Noella then went on to elaborate on the current state of her friendship with Nicole James after viewers negatively reacted to the way Nicole treated Noella while she was having a breakdown over the loss of her marriage.
“So, I saw everything that the viewers saw, and I called it out in the moment,” she said. “Nicole and I, we’ve had a heart to heart and there are some things you don’t understand and now I understand about how she was really robbed of her voice… she’s a great girl, though, and I love her.”
The Real Housewives of Orange County airs Wednesday nights at 9 p.m. EST on Bravo.