RHOM Alexia Echevarria’s dad and ex-husband both died before coming out as bisexual
On Episode 3 of the third Season of Real Housewives of Miami Alexia Echevarria opened up about the similarity between her dad and ex-husband: both men were bisexual but took their secrets to the grave. Alexia shares this with the group while explaining that she was about to receive an award for being an LBGTQ+ ally.
“After my father died I found out that he was gay,” Alexia told her castmates over dinner. She said this was the first time she has said this out loud in 31 years. She said she now understands her mother and forgives her for not being open about this because she feels she was protecting Alexia because she thought being gay was a bad thing. Alexia says she doesn’t think her father being gay was a bad thing at all, and she thought he was the best father in the world.
“All this information about Alexia’s father being gay, this is like a bomb,” Marysol Patton said in interview about Alexia’s revelation. “But this is Alexia’s life, it’s always like one crazy story after another.”
Adriana de Moura reminded Alexia that we repeat the pattern of their parents, referencing Alexia’s late husband Herman Echevarria, who lived a double life while he was married to Alexia. This brings Alexia to tears as she goes on, “Then, 20 years later, I married a gay man. I married somebody like my dad, and then my dad and Herman took that secret to the grave.”
Alexia explains that in Cuban culture it wasn’t okay to be gay, so that’s why her father and Herman lived double lives and hid their sexuality. Alexia later clarified on Behind the Velvet Rope with David Yontef that both her father and ex were actually bisexual, and not just interested in men.
Alexia married businessman Herman Echevarria in 2004, but the couple separated in 2015. In 2016, they were officially divorced and Herman died of a heart attack later that year. His boyfriend came to the funeral, and Alexia later used connecting with him as part of the plot of her RHOM Season 3 storyline.
In an interview with S’More Date Alexia said that she once asked Herman if he was gay, but he lied to her. She said she wishes he would have come out to her because she “would have supported him and helped him, and hooked him up with all my cute gay friends!”
Real Housewives of Miami