Noella and her husband, personal injury lawyer “Sweet” James Bergener, were together for several years before they married legally in June of 2020. Later that year, the couple announced the beginning of their IVF journey in an Instagram post that read, “After a year of many upsets we are daring to dream again.”

But only one year after tying the knot, reports suggested that there was trouble in paradise. In the summer of 2021, not long after showrunners began filming for Season 16 of RHOC, the government issued James a federal tax lien of $5.8 million.

In August, James filed for divorce from Puerto Rico, and Noella said that she was just as “shocked and disgusted” as fans were by the news. The same month, Noella filed for legal separation. The impact that their messy divorce will have on the couple’s financial status is unclear.

Although she was tempted to leave the show after receiving news about her husband's legal woes, with the support of RHOC producers, Noella opted to finish filming the season. “The show was giving me the strength, and empowering me, really, to look deep into it,” she told the OC Register.

Noella added, “It was giving me strength, really, for the first time in my marriage to be like, “No, that doesn’t make sense to me.’ If it doesn’t make sense to me, it’s not gonna make sense to America, or, you know, these ladies.”

You can see Noella on new episodes of The Real Housewives of Orange County on Wednesdays at 9 p.m. EST.