RHOC Was Noella’s marriage fake? Why did she have a wedding five years ago

Noella Bergener is going through a very publicly messy divorce, and things just continue to get more complicated. James left Noella and their son James Jr. this summer and James filed for divorce from Noella in Puerto Rico. She called the Puerto Rican divorce “fraudulent,” but he says that they had established permanent residency there and a judge granted the divorce in December 2020. Now, on Real Housewives of Orange County, Dr. Jen is questioning whether Noella and James were ever married at all. What’s the truth?

At the beginning of last night’s episode, titles “A Tele-Noella,” Dr. Jen Armstrong and Noella had a confrontation over an Instagram photo. Dr. Jen is an Aesthetic Medicine Physician and Surgeon who offers cosmetic services like Botox at her practice. Noella was upset with her because Dr. Jen tagged her in an Instagram post. Noella says she has an exclusive deal with another aesthetic clinic and called Dr. Jen thirsty.

Dr. Jen Armstrong later had Emily Simpson, Nicole James, and Gina Kirschenheiter over for wine and cheese, and they discussed Noella’s confusing marriage situation. (It has to be noted that Nicole James brought the cheese over in Louis Vuitton luggage.)

“In the year that I’ve known her the stories keep changing. We’re married, we’re not married,” Dr. Jen says about Noella. “Literally within five minutes of meeting her ‘Here’s our wedding picture from yesterday.’”

“When I first met Noella she told me that they had a wedding, but they weren’t married, or they’d been together and they’re waiting on a divorce. It was some sort of complicated situation,” Dr. Jen says in confessional.

“It’s just all very confusing,” Dr. Jen says to the group.

“Well, obviously they are married,” Emily points out. “ He can’t file for divorce if they’re not married.”

Jen was still skeptical about what was going on.

In confessional, Emily says that it was a “salacious” thing to say that Noella was lying about being married. She thinks that Jen just doesn’t like Noela, and was trying to tarnish her image for the other girls

“She does not seem stable, she does not seem sane, she does need help,” Jen says, citing that this is from a doctor’s perspective.

Emily says to the group, “I think she needs a raw and real conversation” with friends that let her know they’re here for her, but also make it clear she “can’t treat people like sh**.”

Emily later stops by Noella’s house where she learns that Noella was, indeed, legally married to James. Noella had to whisper because she says stress makes her lose her voice.

Noella’s marriage situation is confusing for many reasons. What seemed to be consuming Dr. Jen is the fact that Noella and James had a wedding ceremony years ago, but only got married last year. Noella says that they lived together “as married” for six years, but their legal union only lasted a year before James filed for divorce.

Noella and James got legally married in June 2020 in a private ceremony because of COVID-19. They had previously had a lavish NYE wedding ceremony in 2017 while James was still legally married to his previous wife.

“James and I had a nye wedding ceremony 2017,” Noella said on Instagram. “Shortly after I started IVF and sadly miscarried our son Bruce. To say that we dated is just one more slap in the face from the man I gave a family. We lived together as husband and wife for 6 years. Having a legal marriage June 2020.”

When did James Bergener divorce his first wife?

Although Noella and James had a NYE wedding ceremony on December 31, 2017, James did not file for divorce from his first wife until September 28, 2018. The divorce wasn’t finalized until June 19, 2020. Noella and James got legally married the same month that his divorce was granted.

Noella and James were granted a legal divorce in December 2020 in Puerto Rico, but Noella is still using social media and television to appeal to James to sign an agreement about their money and assets. She had claimed that the divorce in Puerto Rico was “fraudulent,” but on WWHL on Wednesday night she didn’t seem to deny that they were divorced, only that she was waiting on the agreement to be signed.