Rhode Island Housewives: Scandalous Stars and Spouses!

The Real Housewives of Rhode Island is the latest installment in the Bravo franchise -with seven new main cast members joining the world of reality television. 

A trailer dropped this week promising fans plenty of drama for the inaugural season ranging from heartbreak to career and financial pressures. 

Alicia Carmody, Rosie DiMare, Bachelor alum Ashley Iaconetti, 'cannabis queen' Liz McGraw, Rulla Nehme Pontarelli, Kelsey Swanson and Jo-Ellen Tiberi have been confirmed as the main cast. 

RHONJ alum Dolores Catania will also appear in episodes as a friend in a guest capacity.

The first season of Real Housewives of Rhode Island is slated to premiere later this year on April 5. 

Just two months before the show begins airing, Daily Mail takes a closer look at the new Housewives as well as their even more scandalous husbands. 

The Real Housewives of Rhode Island is the latest installment in the Bravo franchise -with seven new main cast members joining the world of reality television

Alicia Carmody

Alicia Carmody is currently engaged to fiance and businessman Billy Kitsilis and the couple share a daughter named Celina

Carmody and her fiance have been engaged for around eight years but have yet to officially tie the knot

Alicia Carmody is currently engaged to fiance and businessman Billy Kitsilis and the couple share a daughter named Celina. 

She often assists Kitsilis with his restaurant Pizza Mamma by taking to social media to promote the Rhode Island eatery. 

Carmody and her fiance have been engaged for around eight years but have yet to officially tie the knot. 

According to her Bravo bio, Carmody proudly labels herself as a 'flip-flopper' and during the inaugural season, she also has to take a dive back into her past. 

When the media personality does so, the star 'is faced with navigating long-standing relationships and personal growth that leaves one lifelong friend completely blindsided.' 

Carmody is active on social media and will post clips and photos giving her followers a glimpse at her lifestyle, as well as sharing adorable pictures of her mini-me daughter. 

Kitsilis will sometimes make an appearance on her main Instagram page as she uploads sweet family snaps. 

Rosie DiMare

Rosie DiMare - a former Rhode Island television news anchor - has also officially joined the main cast of RHORI

According to her own Bravo bio, both she and her husband are in the process of upgrading their living situation to a 'sprawling dream home'

Rosie DiMare - a former Rhode Island television news anchor - has also officially joined the main cast of RHORI. 

The DJ recently celebrated her one-year wedding anniversary to husband and singer Rich DiMare. 

In the trailer, the businesswoman was seen taking part in plenty of drama with her other castmates. 

At one point, one of the Housewives stated that DiMare is 'not afraid to call people out.' 

According to her own Bravo bio, both she and her husband are in the process of upgrading their living situation to a 'sprawling dream home.' 

'As Rosie focuses on growing her local lifestyle program, she also faces challenges within her inner circle, leaving her to reassess loyalties and where she truly fits in with this evolving, close-knit group.' 

Her husband is a jazz singer who will often sing hits by Frank Sinatra - and will also occasionally show up on his wife's Instagram feed. 

Ashley Iaconetti 

Ashley Ianconetti recently moved to Rhode Island while her husband Jared Haibon was born and raised in the stat

She helps run her husband's cafe called Audrey's Coffee House & Lounge while Iaconetti also keeps busy as a social media influencer, boasting over 1 million followers on Instagram

Ashley Ianconetti recently moved to Rhode Island while her husband Jared Haibon was born and raised in the state. 

The TV personality - who is mom to children Dawson and Hayden - met Haibon while appearing on Bachelor In Paradise and they tied the knot in 2019. 

She helps run her husband's cafe called Audrey's Coffee House & Lounge while Iaconetti also keeps busy as a social media influencer, boasting over 1 million followers on Instagram. 

The trailer offered a glimpse into the pair facing financial pressures of owning the coffee shop - with Iaconetti still getting emotional like her previous time on The Bachelor.

'Always crying,' she said at one point in the teaser as some of her co-stars comforted her in the moment. 

However when it comes to the first season of the forthcoming Bravo show, the star 'learns that life after "I do" isn't as blissful as she imagined. 

'Between raising two young children, adjusting to life in Rhode Island and co-owning a struggling café with her husband, Jared, Ashley's loyalties are tested when Rosie claims she never has her back.' 

Liz McGraw 

Liz McGraw is not only known as 'Rhode Island royalty' per her Bravo bio, but is additionally called the 'cannabis queen'

She is married to husband Gerry - who also helps run Slater - and is a devoted stepmom to Miranda, Briana and Skyla

Liz McGraw is not only known as 'Rhode Island royalty' per her Bravo bio, but is additionally called the 'cannabis queen.' 

The media personality owns Rhode Island's largest cannabis dispensary The Slater Center. 

She is married to husband Gerry - who also helps run Slater - and is a devoted stepmom to Miranda, Briana and Skyla. 

In season one, McGraw finds out that she is going to be a grandmother but 'will not be trading couture for a rocking chair.

'As she prepares for a new chapter in her family life, shifting dynamics within her inner circle test her influence and the bonds she’s long held close.' 

McGraw was also described as a 'dominant figure head' in the trailer which dropped earlier this week.  

She is friends with Real Housewives Of New Jersey alum Dolores Catania, who will makes appearances in a guest capacity on the show. 

Rulla Nehme Pontarelli 

Rulla Nehme Pontarelli is a businesswoman who works as both a financial planner and wealth manager

Late last year in October, her husband Brian was arrested and charged with misdemeanor domestic violence for allegedly putting a tracking device on her car without her knowledge

Rulla Nehme Pontarelli is a businesswoman who works as both a financial planner and wealth manager. 

She is married to Brian Pontarelli, a Rhode Island podiatrist - and the pair are parents to two children. 

The reality star is an individual who 'projects confidence and beauty' per the recently dropped trailer. 

'Proud of her Lebanese roots, she brings deeply held values into the group, especially when it comes to marriage.'

However, speculation about her marriage arose in the RHORI trailer. 

'When rumors about her husband begin to circulate, Rulla is forced to confront uncomfortable questions that challenge her beliefs, resilience and commitment, putting her personal life under an unrelenting spotlight.' 

Late last year in October, her husband Brian was arrested and charged with misdemeanor domestic violence for allegedly putting a tracking device on her car without her knowledge. 

Just two months later, however, the charges were dropped. 

Kelsey Swanson 

Kelsey Swanson - who was crowned Miss Rhode Island in 2017 - is romantically linked to a 'wealthy boyfriend' but his identity is not yet known, according to her official Bravo bio

'Now at a crossroads, Kelsey must decide between the comfort of her gilded arrangement and a future on her own term,' per a description 

Kelsey Swanson - who was crowned Miss Rhode Island in 2017 - is another cast member appearing in the series. 

She is romantically linked to a 'wealthy boyfriend' but his identity is not yet known, according to her official Bravo bio. 

The beauty queen has been dating 'one of Rhode Island's most notable figures' for around 10 years. 

'Now at a crossroads, Kelsey must decide between the comfort of her gilded arrangement and a future on her own terms. 

'When her loyalty to Liz is tested, Kelsey worries about going up against the group's heaviest hitter and losing her greatest cheerleader.'

Back in 2014, Swanson was involved in a car accident which would then lead to doctors discovering a non-cancerous tumor on her brain. It was later removed and she continued to compete in beauty pageants. 

Jo-Ellen Tiberi 

Jo-Ellen Tiberi - a 'self-proclaimed town gossip' - is married to loan officer Guy Tiberi, her high school sweetheart

'When sensitive information involving Rulla's marriage circulates within the group, Jo-Ellen finds herself caught between honesty and discretion,' per her Bravo bio

Jo-Ellen Tiberi - a 'self-proclaimed town gossip' - is married to loan officer Guy Tiberi, her high school sweetheart. 

'When sensitive information involving Rulla's marriage circulates within the group, Jo-Ellen finds herself caught between honesty and discretion,' per her Bravo bio.

'Unresolved issues with her mother resurface, forcing her to confront long-buried childhood wounds and reckon with the personal cost of always being the one who tells it like it is.' 

Tiberi is heavily involved in the drama and gossip on the series, with a castmate saying that 'she knows everything.'

'If I'm trying to find out s**t, if I need an FBI agent, I'm calling Jo-Ellen,' one of the Housewives said in the trailer. 

In the clip which dropped on Thursday, rumors of a heartbreak plagued the first season - with 'whispers' of Pontarelli's husband Brian straying, rumors the Housewife denies

'When someone calls my wife's work, that's a huge f**king problem for me,' one of the husbands says. But she is insistent the affair rumors are not accurate

In the clip which dropped on Thursday, rumors of a heartbreak plagued the first season - with 'whispers' of Pontarelli's husband Brian straying, rumors the Housewife denies.

'There are echoes of Rulla's husband having an affair,' one says.

'I want you to know that it's happening currently,' she is then warned by one of her friends.

The gossip gets back to Pontarelli's husband: 'It was told to me that you were perpetuating info around.'

'When someone calls my wife's work, that's a huge f**king problem for me,' one of the husbands says. But she is insistent the affair rumors are not accurate.

'This petty f**king s**t has been trying everything to put stuff out there as if though my husband's involved in and or still involved. And that's not the case,' she said.

The Real Housewives of New Jersey star, Catania, jumps right into the drama. 'But he is, ma,' Catania insisted. 'But he is.'

Meanwhile, Iaconetti and her husband Jared Haibon are also working to overcome financial pressures about their coffee shop, Audrey's. 

'I know that you're insecure about how Audrey's doesn't bring enough in,' she told him over lunch. 

'I know that you're insecure about how Audrey's doesn't bring enough in,' Iaconetti told her husband over lunch; seen earlier this month in NYC 

Every Housewife is dealing with something, with one struggling over the prospect of starting a family with her partner and another dealing with childhood pain, and another wondering if she will ever get her 'big fairytale moment.'

One of the stars also has quite the busy schedule.

'The two people in my life are the most wonderful people ever,' she says.

'Now you're saying that you do have two boyfriends!? What!?' DiMare replies.

The first season of Real Housewives of Rhode Island will premiere on Bravo on April 5 at 9pm ET/PT with episodes available for viewing the following day on Peacock.