Alexia Nepola’s youngest son, Frankie Rosello, has good instincts when it comes to the men in his mother’s life.
The 26-year-old tells Page Six exclusively that he knew his mom’s second marriage to Herman Echevarria would not last.
“Zero,” Rosello says in response to whether there was any chance of Nepola and Echevarria getting back together when they briefly separated in 2016.
Meanwhile, the “Real Housewives of Miami” star says she still held out hope because they had called it quits on “friendly terms” and their separation was only supposed to be a little “time out.”
“As a woman, when you’re in the situation, you don’t see certain things,” Nepola says.
The Bravolebrity was married to Echevarria from 2004 until 2016, when he died unexpectedly of a heart attack at age 61.
Reflecting on the marriage, Nepola can now see that there had been red flags in the relationship for a long time.
“I felt like I was in a bird cage with Herman for so many years,” she says. “We were happily married for many years, but he was very controlling. He was very possessive.”
The reality star also found out after his death that her former spouse was bisexual, which she had talked about openly on “RHOM.”
“Once I would have found out about that, I think I would have probably divorced him,” Nepola adds.
The “RHOM” star, however, has found her happily ever after with her third husband, Todd Nepola, whom she wed in December 2021.
The New York-born businessman has been a strong support system for his wife as she returns to the spotlight on the newly revamped “RHOM.”
Alexia shares that since she’s been back, she’s received all kinds of messages on social media. She says the ones that tug on her heart strings the most are those about her beloved son Frankie, who was in a near-fatal accident in 2011 and suffered brain damage as a result.
“I get so depressed,” the mother of two admits to Page Six. “One day, Todd came into the room … and he sees me and he goes, ‘What happened? Why are you crying?’ I was in my bed, like, crying hysterically .. I’ve never been depressed in my life.”
Alexia says the comments from families who experienced similar situations really hit home because she “knows that pain.”
“I wish I could do more,” the Alexia and Frankie’s Beauty Bar owner adds before concluding, “All I can do is pray and give them that strength and that encouragement to keep on going to never take ‘no’ [for an answer], don’t give up.”
Alexia also shares a 30-year-old son, Peter, with her first husband, Peter Rosello Sr.