Rulla Nehme Pontarelli is speaking out about her marriage to Brian Pontarelli as questions continue to surface about his past infidelity.
During a recent episode of The Real Housewives of Rhode Island, Rulla sat down with Jo-Ellen Tiberi, where the conversation turned to ongoing rumors surrounding Brian. Jo-Ellen alleged that Brian was still seeing the other woman and even presented what she claimed were text messages between them. Rulla, however, said she did not believe the messages were real.
In a separate interview with Us Weekly, Rulla addressed the situation more directly and defended her decision to stand by her husband.
“Brian is the person who I’ve known my entire life. For any mistakes or misjudgements he’s made, I can honestly tell everyone that he has more than repented his sins,” she said. “I think everyone will see that.”
She also acknowledged the public reaction to her staying in the relationship, but explained her perspective.
“For people who might say, ‘Oh, my God, after what he did, I can’t believe she’s with him or taking him back and she doesn’t need him,’ I feel like for a woman with values, it actually makes you a stronger person.”
Rulla went on to note that situations like this are more common than people may realize, even if they are not always made public.
“People have lapses of judgment, a lot of people out there have lapses of judgment, or their husbands or their wives have, but it just never came to light, or they never admitted it,” she said. “There’s a lot of that stuff that goes on that we don’t know about, or that’s never admitted.”
As for how she is handling everything now, Rulla said she is focused on moving forward.
“In this case, certain things were brought to light and I’ve navigated them as best as possible. I truly take things day by day. I’m on top of things, let’s put it that way, so Jo-Ellen doesn’t need to be.”
With tensions between the cast still playing out on screen, Rulla’s comments offer insight into where she currently stands in both her marriage and the ongoing drama.
