The Real Housewives of Orange County newbie Noella Bergener just cannot seem to catch a break.
In a new interview, Noella is opening up about the details regarding her divorce from James Bergener, going so far as to call it “torture.”
Speaking with Page Six, Noella said, “There’s a lot in divorce that’s about control and micro-managing and kind of wanting to torture the ex. There’s a little bit of that at play going on here.”
RHOC viewers have been privy to the collapse of the couple’s marriage since Noella’s debut on the show, and it has since become a major storyline for Noella as James fled to Puerto Rico right as filming began. However, Noella is hoping for a resolution soon.
She went on to say that she hopes James will eventually get to “a happy place where he doesn’t feel like he needs to look at the past and think about controlling me.”
Looking back, Noella recalled dealing with her ordeal as “frustrating” and “surreal.”
“It was truly surreal,” she said. “I couldn’t believe this was happening to me. I had to pick myself up, though, and by the grace of God we ended up making a bit of progress, figuring out settlement details together.”
However, Noella has claimed that James has since reneged on their agreement and is now asking for more custody of their son, James Jr., who has autism.
“It’s very frustrating,” the RHOC star said. “A man who lives in Puerto Rico is asking for 50/50 custody of our 2-year-old son who he’s not seen for six months and who requires… hours of therapy for his autism. We go one step forward and 10 steps backwards.”
But Noella is staying optimistic and looking to the future as she’s recently begun working on launching a brand named Playland. What exactly is the brand? We’re not sure yet, but Noella did say it is a place “where adults come to play.”
Now that’s she’s working on her financial future solo and independently, Noella shared that she thinks James thought she would crumble and fall apart without him.
“I honestly do think there was something in [James] that thought once he left, that I would fall apart and that I would not be able to go on and I would just run after him or give up on this opportunity [to appear on ‘RHOC’] because I’d be too embarrassed to be honest about what’s going on,” she said.
That’s not the case, Noella said. If anything, she’s proud of showing everything on RHOC.
“Something I’ve learned through this process is as shameful as this was, it wasn’t my shame. That’s his shame,” Noella said.
Moving forward, Noella is ready to put her divorce to bed and finally move on with her life.
“I need to accelerate it… The truth is the truth,” she stated. “He left. He says he wants a divorce. I want a divorce. We’ve agreed on all the hard parts of the divorce. Let’s be divorced. Let’s do this. It doesn’t make sense. I really want it and if you really want it too, then let’s finalize this.”
RHOC Live Viewing – This is also the live viewing thread for tonight’s new episode of The Real Housewives of Orange County season 16, which airs at 9/8c on Bravo.