Credit: Charles Sykes/Bravo
Jo-Ellen Tiberi claimed Rulla Pontarelli’s husband, Brian Pontarelli, lied about his mom going to the hospital, so he could secretly meet his alleged mistress. The star also shared who she’s closest to on Real Housewives of Rhode Island, and she addressed the rumor that Kelsey Swanson broke up with her new boyfriend, Billy L’Europa.
In a recent episode, Brian and Rulla left filming as he claimed that his mom was in the hospital and he needed to help her. Jo-Ellen, who communicates with the alleged mistress and shared photos of her and Brian together, later claimed that he was meeting the other woman.
On The Twot Seat, Jo-Ellen shared more context surrounding her actions with Rulla over the alleged affair.
“Everyone said, ‘Why didn’t you tell Rulla [about the photos]?’ Let’s go back. I did not know Rulla. I had never heard of her,” said Jo-Ellen. “So when I saw these pictures online, I sent them to Liz, and I was like, ‘Oh shit, that’s that woman that might be on the show.'”
“I’m not going to text some random stranger,” she went on. “And then Liz told her and told her about the pictures. Rulla called me and said, ‘Do you mind showing me?’ So I did. It was very awkward.”
Jo-Ellen claimed the “whole state” knew about his alleged affair because he was “walking around with the mistress.”
“I feel for both Rulla and the mistress because they both got taken by this guy,” said Jo-Ellen. “He promised the world to the mistress, ‘I’m leaving her, I love you, I got you a ring, here’s the divorce papers.’ He’s promising one thing to her, and then he’s saying something completely different to Rulla. They’re both victims. But [I] obviously don’t condone [the affair].”
“Somebody else should have brought [the affair] up,” she said later. “We’re on a TV show. It should have been brought up. … But no one else did, including the people that have known [Rulla] for a while.”
According to Jo-Ellen, Brian “knew” Jo-Ellen was “friendly with the mistress” — and his mom didn’t go to the hospital.
“There were so many lies in that situation. … The mom did not go to the hospital,” she said. “He was trying to go to the mistress because she was upset with him.”
At one point in the podcast, Jo-Ellen was asked who she’s closest to in the cast.
“I would say I’m probably the closest with Liz, Kelsey, Alicia,” said Jo-Ellen.
She then addressed rumors that Kelsey broke up with her new boyfriend, Billy, saying, “[Kelsey and Billy are] doing really well. We were actually all out last weekend.”
Real Housewives of Rhode Island airs Sunday nights on Bravo.