Jo-Ellen Tiberi Dishes on Being the 'Truth Teller' of 'The Real Housewives of Rhode Island': 'I Don't Hold Back'

Jo-Ellen Tiberi quickly became a fan-favorite within two episodes of The Real Housewives of Rhode Island.

The businesswoman came in swinging to Bravo's latest series, bringing her bold attitude and fearless ability to share information with her cast members.

Tiberi speaks exclusively with OK! about why she might be the "truth teller" of her friend group, if she and Rulla Nehme Pontarelli can ever be friends, why the New England franchise is unlike any other, what it's like watching herself on television and the biggest lesson she learned while filming.

Despite sometimes rocking the boat, Tiberi isn't afraid to speak her mind, especially when the cameras are rolling.

"I am who I am. I think that's probably why I got cast. I say it like it is. I don't hold back," the mother-of-three shares. "That definitely gets me in trouble in my life and on the show, but it's who I am. I'm okay with that. I don't know if that makes me the villain or if that makes me the truth teller."

In episode two, it's revealed that Tiberi took screenshots from social media of Pontarelli's husband out with another woman and sent it to their mutual friend Liz McGraw. After the information flooded through the group, tensions arose between the two women.

"I found it from the beginning to be very odd. I did not know Rula. So, why would I ever send Rula, whom I've never spoken to in my life, a screenshot of what the [alleged] mistress posted on Instagram?" she says. "This is not me posting this. This is not a picture I took. It's the [alleged] mistress putting it out there. If you're going to go after somebody, go after your husband. Go after the [alleged] mistress. Don't go after the person who told you the truth."

While the two have their differences, it's unclear if they'll ever be friends again. "I respect Rulla as a woman and as a mother," Tiberi says. "I was with her a couple of weeks ago at the Celtics game. I can be cordial around her. But Rulla definitely owes me a very big apology. You're barking up the wrong tree. I was helping you. I'll never help again."

"It's a little bit different than other Housewives series," Tiberi says. "The cast demographic is younger, for starters. It's a different generational gap that Housewives is being passed down to. The friendships are real — some of us go back 20 or 30 years. The drama is real. It's happening in that moment. None of it is manufactured. It's really what's happening in our lives."

"It's been really fun and a whirlwind," Tiberi says of the show's launch. "It's so crazy that this is actually happening. Watching yourself on TV is wild. You're going to see in one of the upcoming episodes that something big happens in my life. You can't stop filming. It just happens. We have to work through it, but this is such a good group of girls — I wouldn't want to do it with anyone else."

"I didn't realize how bad I had anxiety until the show," Tiberi admits of filming her first season. "That's okay because it helped me to get help for myself. Sometimes when you put on that hard exterior, people don't realize that there is still a smushy, little gummy bear inside. No matter what I do, I definitely have to be true to myself. Maybe there is that hard shell, but there's also the soft side. I don't want people to forget that we're still humans. Even though we're doing the show, we're still people."

New episodes of The Real Housewives of Rhode Island premiere on Bravo on Sundays at 9 p.m. ET and stream via Peacock the next day.