“RHOM Star Alexia Nepola Discusses Reconciliation with Ex-Husband Todd Nepola Post-Divorce: Navigating Chaos Together”

Bravo fans often liken Alexia Nepola’s life to a telenovela for a good reason. Despite facing life’s challenges, the star of The Real Housewives of Miami, also known as the “Cuban Barbie,” navigates through them with poise and elegance. She expressed that sharing the aftermath of her separation from her ex-husband Todd Nepola was one of the most difficult experiences she has encountered.

In the premiere of Season 7 of RHOM, the cameras were rolling early to capture Alexia’s perspective following Todd’s sudden divorce filing in April 2024. Alexia recounted that Todd took her on a date, they shared an intimate moment, he professed his love for her, and then abruptly moved out the next day. Although their divorce was finalized in March of the current year, they have been seen getting close to each other again.

In a recent interview with Decider, Alexia revealed, “All I know is that we’re both a bit unstable and confused, we deeply care for each other, and we need to find a way to navigate through this and love each other more effectively, I suppose. Because we struggle with that.” She also mentioned that their relationship appears to have improved now that they have reconciled.

Between Alexia’s relationship struggles, Larsa Pippen‘s breakup with Marcus Jordan and feud with Lisa Hochstein, and the fallout between Guerdy Abraira and Julia Lemigova — yes, all of this happened in the premiere episode alone — Alexia promised that Season 7 is well on its way to becoming the “best season ever.”

“I just think that we’re just bringing it all,” she said. “You’ll see the different dynamics. The friend groups are all shifting. The ones that used to be friends are fighting now. The ones that were fighting are friends now. I feel like we all have a lot of personal life, also, that we’re showing in the show … It was a really strong season.”

When Alexia stopped by Decider’s studio, she talked more about the Season 7 drama, Teresa Giudice‘s cameo in the premiere, and whether we’ll see more of her sons in upcoming episodes. Check out the full interview below.

DECIDER: Andy Cohen teased that this season of Miami would be a major one. Do you agree? Is there a different feel to this season than past seasons?

ALEXIA NEPOLA: For sure. I agree with my boss, Andy. He knows his stuff. He’s been doing this for a long time. I think it is the best season ever. People need to watch. I just think that we’re bringing it all. I guess that we’ve been a friend group already for four or five years, so we feel comfortable with each other. You’ll see that. You’ll see the different dynamics. The friend groups are all shifting. The ones that used to be friends are fighting now. The ones that were fighting are friends now. It’s really interesting. I feel like we all have a lot of personal life that we’re also showing in the show, which is very relatable to many other women and families that are going through the same thing as we’re going [through]. It was a really strong season. And we have a newbie, so it’s always fun to watch the new girl in town.

Production picked up a few months early in the premiere episode to document what you were going through. What made you want to share that incredibly difficult time in your life so soon after it happened?

I honestly didn’t even know what I was doing. I was still in shock and I just opened up. All the girls reached out to me, even my own boss, everybody in the network, everybody was calling me [to see if] I was okay, because it happened so abruptly. I was still going through it at that moment. That’s why you got that raw, emotional [side of me]. I was in shock, devastated, I didn’t know what was happening. All I know is that I had all my friends and family around me, supporting me, and giving me all the love and attention that I needed at that moment. 

It was beautiful to see everyone rallying around you. You could tell that you were kind of shell-shocked by everything.

Yeah, I don’t even know how I was able to get dressed and actually put on makeup and make it to filming because it was really, really hard for me. It’s already hard what you’re going through in your private life so imagine sharing this publicly. It’s one of the hardest things that I’ve had to do because you don’t get to see the full story. You just see the highs and lows and whatever it is I give you, but you don’t see the full story. There was a lot of pain and uncomfortable and bad things, [but] there were also a lot of beautiful things and love and that’s why I’m still here today. 

When we talked to Marysol, she said you seemed happier now that you and Todd have seemingly reconciled. Do you find that you two are better together when you’re not married as opposed to when you are?

All I know is that we’re both crazy and confused and we both love each other a lot and we just have to figure out a way to deal with all this and to love each other better, I guess, because we’re not so good at it. That’s why we’re here. But so far it’s working out. I live in my house, he lives in his. Things seem to be better. I need to be at peace and I need to be happy. So when things are peaceful and I feel happy with my life, everything else falls into place.

Let’s get into everything going on with the ladies. At this point in time, Lisa and Larsa are feuding. Do you think Lisa was in the wrong for being around Marcus after his breakup with Larsa?

I’m a girl’s girl, and I believe in girl code. I’m also friends with Larsa and Lisa, so I’m in an uncomfortable position. Of course, I would be super upset if my girls were hanging out with Todd when this happened. As a matter of fact, a lot of my friends automatically unfollowed him. When the news broke out, they were like, “What is this?” It’s not that it shows that it supports me. I didn’t even know that [they unfollowed him]. I found out afterwards – and actually, I think [from] him – but that’s what you do.

For Larsa, it was very important for Lisa and Jody to stop talking to her ex. She asked them to do it. Why are you even following your friend’s man? I don’t do that. I don’t follow any of them. I don’t follow [any] of my friends’ husbands, not only on the show, but in real life. I’m friends with the girl. If I want to see anything that has to do with her husband, it’s going to be on your page. For me, it’s weird. Maybe I’m old school, maybe I’m traditional, call it whatever it is, but I don’t think that was okay. I try to tell Lisa and she gets upset about it. But that’s how I feel. It doesn’t mean that I’m not your friend and I love you, but this is what friends do. A lot of my friends have told me a lot of things I haven’t wanted to hear this season. But you know what? I know you’re my friend, you have good intentions, and you’re trying to help me out and give me good advice. So I try to do that with Lisa, and she just says that she can’t control Jody, that it’s Jody. But yet she’s the one that’s following him. So it makes no sense.

I feel like we’ve never seen Larsa get as emotional as she did at the end of the premiere. Did that surprise you? 

It didn’t because I was going through it with Larsa. Just like she was there for me, I was there for her, so I knew that she was going through it and I knew her pain. That’s what I tried to explain to Lisa as well. All of this was happening before the cameras picked up. I’m friendly with Larsa and with Lisa, but I think that sometimes between friends, they both see it differently, so it’s hard to convince them [otherwise]. Lisa has a lot of valid points, and I agree with a lot of things that she’s saying, and Larsa has a lot of valid points, and I agree with a lot of them. But how do they come together? When they come together, the fight starts even before they can get it out and say what they really need to say, and it turns into something else, as you noticed. It’s always the same. We never end up fighting or resolving what we’re really upset about. It’s always about something else and then it escalates and it gets worse and worse. But you have to watch, because that’s what our season is. It’s an organized chaos. It’s very emotional. Like I said, there’s a lot of personal story and you’ll get to know all of us even more. I just feel like we’re very relatable. Guerdy continues with her journey and it’s very inspiring. With my situation, I’m not the only woman in America or in the world that’s gotten divorced, nor will I be the last one. It’s something that women deal with all the time, but it’s just me being raw and genuine. It’s the only way I know to be.

That’s why people love you on TV.

I guess. I don’t know that it’s so great for me, but yeah. 

Fans can’t get enough of you and your story. They are even comparing your life to a telenovela! What are your thoughts on that? 

I wish it really was a telenovela and I was doing scripted TV instead of reality TV because this is my real life. When it’s your real life, it’s lot harder than scripted. We’re documenting what’s happening to us. Like I said, it’s already hard privately, so imagine [dealing with things] in public. People don’t know the full story. In addition to everything, the public opinion [comes in] after they see the episode. Everybody weighs in on your life that they [only] have a [two-minute] snippet of. It’s tough. 

We also learned that Julia and Guerdy are on the outs – and Guerdy recently shared some screenshots to plead her case. Whose side are you on in that situation?

I know, I just saw. First of all, I don’t like to be on anybody’s side or anybody’s team. It’s not that I’m neutral because I like to listen to both sides. I’m like, “She has a point. OK, she is a point, I can see why this happened.” I don’t like to jump and say, “Oh, OK, I’m fully supporting this person on anybody’s team.” I feel that Julia is going through a tough time in her personal life with her adoption process. It’s been very stressful. I’m not giving excuses for her behavior, but I’m that person that goes beyond that to say, “You know what? Maybe she’s acting out this way because she’s going through something at home or something she can’t control, or maybe something deeper happened with her and Guerdy and she’s just playing it out.” You’ll have to watch and see, right? Because this is just episode one. It’s highs and lows all season, between friendships, between my relationship. It’s just that kind of a season. 

We’ll be meeting the new Housewife, Stephanie Shojaee, soon enough. You two seem to go at it a bit in the trailer. What did you think of her?

I knew her from before and I wanted her to be part of the friend group. I thought that she would add so much to it and I wasn’t wrong. She came in super strong with this dramatic arrival and she’s really good. She’s been really great for the show. She’s made a lot of effort to be friends with everyone, but you have to see whether it’s real or fake. You know how that goes. You never know people’s intentions. You have to watch. It’s just been a lot of fun. Our trips were incredible. We had really great trips this season, finally. We went to Sevilla, which is our mother country for the Spanish-speakers. You get to see that. We had so much fun and so much drama. That’s why they take us on trips. 

They know to throw you all into a nice resort for a few days.

Exactly. We start off really nice to each other and then from one day to the other, we’re crazy. You’ll see that. But it’s not as bad as – at least, I don’t want to think it’s as bad as Mexico. It’s different, it’s colorful just like Mexico. What else? We also went on yachts, but that’s very Miami. I feel like everybody loves to see that. That’s super Miami. And we go on a cruise, which I don’t think has ever been seen in any other Housewives show, so that’s super cool. Marysol organized that for us. We just had a lot of fun. The same way we had a lot of tears, we also had a lot of fun, a lot of laughter, and a lot of growth – at least, in my personal life, I had a lot of growth. 

I loved to see Teresa Giudice make a voice cameo when you called her in the premiere episode. 

She literally was calling me when I was on my way to filming. I was like, “Oh, my God, what do I do?” I obviously said she was calling me and they were like, “Oh, can we put [this on] camera?”

What is it about your friendship with her that you cherish the most?

I love that she’s so real and genuine. She’s so raw, like me. She’s so real, she talks from the heart and she’s a kind person. She’s an amazing mom and I love the relationship that she has with her daughters because I feel like I have that same bond with my boys. I mean, put the show aside because honestly, I wouldn’t even watch these shows. Maybe if I would have watched [The Real Housewives of New Jersey], I would’ve never cared for her. But since I never watched any of the shows, I’ve become friends with these women genuinely because I’ve met them and had the opportunities to either work with them or I’ve met them at an event or at BravoCon. I’ve just been attracted to them, the real person, their personalities, and we’ve clicked and we’ve become friends. I don’t care how you behave on your show. I’m part of this, too. I know that sometimes you go crazy, but it never stopped me from being friends with her because I always liked her as a human being.

I can’t let you go without bringing up your amazing sons, Frankie and Peter. Will we be seeing more of them this season?

Yes. Well, Peter participates a little less because he really doesn’t like the show, either. It’s not like the show’s been so great for him. He’s focused on opening up a business and and doing great things for himself. You won’t see him so much, but he’s still very involved in my life and Frankie’s life, so we do have a couple of scenes like that. You’ll see Frankie a lot more because Frankie’s always with me. We just got on TikTok and he loves it. Frankie loves the show. Frankie loves The Beauty Bar. Frankie loves TikTok. Frankie loves people. Frankie’s just an angel. He goes around just sprinkling happiness and joy to everyone. 

He brings such a light-hearted tone when everything else can be so heavy.

Yes, it’s true. He doesn’t like it. A lot of times when I’m mic’d and I’m filming, he’s like, “Mom, no fighting.” And I’m like, “Hey, I’m not the one fighting. They fight me, I have to defend myself.”

BravoCon is coming up in the fall. What are you most looking forward to?

It’s in Vegas and I love Vegas, so I’m looking forward to going back to Vegas. I feel like Bravo FanFest always brings the best out of us. You see the worst of us, unfortunately, on TV, but at BravoCon, it is all about having fun and family and just supporting each other and complimenting each other. We have so much fun. Andy does such a great job, and the whole team, for BravoCon. Honestly, I thought it was a great idea that they’re not doing it every year because it’s a lot of work and we need you guys to miss us. We need our fans to miss so that they’ll buy the tickets and they’ll go. But it’s always a great time. It’s really fun. 

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

New episodes of The Real Housewives of Miami air every Wednesday night at 9 p.m. ET/PT on Bravo. New episodes are available to stream the next day on Peacock.