Noella Bergener opened up about her mystery boyfriend during an interview over the weekend.
Months after her short-lived marriage to estranged husband James Bergener came to an abrupt end amid the 16th season of The Real Housewives of Orange County, Noella admitted to meeting her new man years before their breakup and enjoyed spending time with him amid the COVID lockdowns.
“We actually met like three years ago, and he was friends with Dennis Rodman who is at a dinner table at Maestro’s,” Noella revealed to the Daily Mail at DirecTV’s Drag Bowl. “I saw him, he had a very interesting table, I was at a very interesting table, our friends who knew each other kind of interconnected, and afterwards the invite came out during COVID. There was nothing going on in Orange County, everything was shut down, so we like we heat the pool, heat up the barbeque, invite cool interesting people over, and he came over with friends.”
“I even tell him, ‘You’re so cool, you’re one of the most amazing people I’ve ever met, by far in Orange County, what are you doing here? Like why are you here, you’re too cool to be here,'” Noella continued.
While Noella didn’t reveal the name of her mystery man, she said that the two of them would frequently extend their COVID parties to COVID after parties.
“COVID after parties definitely were very useful,” she teased.
Although Noella acknowledged that she and her new boyfriend met while she was with James, she clarified that their romance did not begin until after James left their formerly shared residence in Newport Beach.
“It was only when the husband left,” she insisted.
Looking back at her introduction to RHOC, Noella said her first season was a “very wild ride,” and it was also quite difficult due to all that was happening in her personal life.
“It was a difficult journey for me, and it’s not necessarily about Housewives as much as it’s about my life fell apart,” she explained. “My son was diagnosed with being on the spectrum, my husband left, my father passed away, and that just happened to be what was captured on my first experience… it was a challenging four months.”
Despite her challenges, Noella is staying positive and her ups and downs have “been a great reminder of how resilient we can be and how strong we can be and that old adage of God only gives what you can handle.”
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.