Jo-Ellen Tiberi is responding to her Real Housewives of Rhode Island castmates calling her a pot-stirrer, and she is not exactly denying that she adds fuel to the fire.
The RHORI star recently spoke with Boston Magazine, where she addressed how she has been labeled by some of her castmates versus how fans have responded to her. While the women have called her everything from a “pot-stirrer” to a “banana peel that plays both sides of the fence,” Jo-Ellen says she sees herself differently.
When asked about being called a “pot-stirrer,” “inauthentic” and “disingenuous,” Jo-Ellen said she actually loves Liz McGraw’s “banana peel” comment.
“I love when Liz calls me a ‘banana peel’—I think it’s an endearing term,” Jo-Ellen said.
As for whether she thinks she stirs the pot, Jo-Ellen admitted she may add something to the drama, but she believes her intentions are rooted in honesty.
“Do I think that I’m the pot-stirrer? I think I might add a layer of things,” she said. “I am a truth teller. I get to the bottom of things. I don’t like when people are disingenuous, so I don’t agree when people call me disingenuous, because I think I’m pretty genuine.”
Jo-Ellen explained that her loyalty may not always be to one specific friend in a heated moment, but rather to whoever she believes is being honest.
“Maybe at times, my loyalty is not to that specific person, at that moment—maybe that’s when they find me disingenuous—but it’s to who I feel like is telling the truth,” she explained.
That tracks with what viewers have seen throughout Season 1. Jo-Ellen has often found herself in the middle of conflict, whether she is pushing for answers, reacting to the group’s shifting friendships or refusing to let certain comments go unchecked.
But according to Jo-Ellen, this is not a performance. This is who she is in real life.
“In my group of friends, I’m the funny one that kind of says it how it is, unapologetically,” Jo-Ellen said. “And I think that comes across to the audience, because that is who I am.”
Jo-Ellen also opened up about how strange it is to now have longtime friends become costars.
“That’s something I’m still trying to wrap my brain around—that they are coworkers—because I do have long-standing friendships with a lot of them,” she said. “It’s hard to wrap your brain around that dynamic: This is work, but it’s also not, because we really are friends in real life.”
According to Jo-Ellen, that dynamic makes the drama even more emotional.
“Because of that, I think it does make it more challenging, and more emotional when there’s a disagreement, because you really are friends whether the cameras are there or not,” she explained. “That can be harder for us, but it’s better for the audience.”
One friendship that has been tested this season is Jo-Ellen’s relationship with Liz McGraw. The two have had a very real falling out on RHORI, and Jo-Ellen admitted that watching it play out was painful.
“That was a real beef—that was a really sad one,” Jo-Ellen said. “I was really, really upset for several days.”
Despite their issues, Jo-Ellen says she still cares deeply about Liz.
“I do consider Liz to be one of my good friends, and everything you’re seeing is very real,” she said. “I was just texting Liz yesterday, just checking on her, because I know that the past week or so has been difficult.”
Jo-Ellen also defended Liz as the internet backlash against her has intensified.
“I love Liz, and I care about her, so I’ll always be there even if I’m not her best friend,” Jo-Ellen shared. “There are work friends, and then you have home friends, and lifelong friends. Right now, Liz is going through a lot—the internet is being very, very cruel—and Liz is a good person. But I think we’re in an okay place.”
Jo-Ellen may not agree with being called disingenuous, but she seems comfortable with the fact that she is the one who says things out loud. She may “add a layer,” but in her mind, she is not stirring the pot just for fun.
She is getting to the truth.
And whether her castmates like it or not, RHORI fans seem to be responding to exactly that.