Just faking it?
Dr. Jen Armstrong accused Noella Bergener of never being legally married to her estranged husband, James Bergener, during Wednesday’s new episode of “The Real Housewives of Orange County.”
“In the year that I’ve known [Noella], the stories keep changing. ‘We’re married, we’re not married.’ Literally met her within five minutes, ‘Here’s our wedding picture from yesterday.’ You don’t find that strange?” Armstrong, 44, asked co-stars Emily Simpson, Gina Kirschenheiter and new friend Nicole James.
Armstrong then alleged in a confessional that Noella told her they were never legally married.
“When I first met Noella, she told me that they had a wedding, but they weren’t married, or they’d been together and waiting on a divorce,” she claimed. “It was some sort of complicated situation.”
Many of the ladies were caught off guard by Armstrong’s accusations, especially Simpson, 45, who said, “Well obviously they are married, because he can’t file for divorce if they’re not married.”
“For Jen to say that Noella isn’t really married to her husband, that’s a very salacious thing to say about someone,” the attorney added in a confessional.
Armstrong then suggested that “from a doctor’s perspective,” she believes Noella “does not seem sane” and “needs professional help.”
“I think she needs a raw and real conversation where she has friends that were here for her, but she can’t treat people like s–t, she can’t,” Armstrong explained. “She’s angry and she has to find some other direction for it. She needs to go to therapy. She needs… it’s gotta be channeled in other places.”
Later in the episode, Simpson stopped by Noella’s home to check on her, where she filled her in on Armstrong’s accusations.
“There’s no heart there,” Noella, 36, responded. “I feel like she’s a very inauthentic person.”
Noella – who previously claimed James served her with divorce papers from Puerto Rico after abandoning her and their 2-year-old son James Jr. – set the record straight on her marriage in a confessional.
“That’s how divorce works,” Noella said, telling cameras she and James tied the knot in summer 2020. “You have to get legally married first.”
“The Real Housewives of Orange County” airs Wednesdays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on Bravo.