Wedding bells have been on standby for The Real Housewives of New Jersey’s Dolores Catania and boyfriend Paul “Paulie” Connell, but will things soon change for the couple?
Dolores recently appeared on Season 1, Episode 3 of Bravo Bravo F’ing Bravo with Kate Chastain, a live, interactive Bravo Insider original series featuring conversations with your favorite Bravolebrities. (Right now, it’s currently available online to select Bravo Insiders. But you can add yourself to the Bravo Insider wait list to be the first to know when we open up availability to watch and participate live in the digital show.) Paulie sat front-row and center with the live audience, while Southern Charm’s Austen Kroll and Bravo fan Michelle Collins were among Kate’s guests. Naturally, with Valentine’s Day approaching, romance was the theme of the conversation.
Dolores kept it short and sweet when asked by Kate if she had “a vision for [her] next wedding.”
Here’s what she said.
What does Dolores Catania think of a second wedding?
Dolores simply replied “no” to the question, a light response that caused live audience members to laugh along. Perhaps Paulie laughed the hardest.
“She’s the best woman in the world,” Paulie called out. “This is so the least complicated as ever.”
Kate “loved” that the Housewife didn’t have big plans for a potential big day, but Dolores noted she did have one request for that step.
“Surprise me,” Dolores continued. “I think I like surprises.”
Michelle, host of The Michelle Collins Show with Michelle Collins, then wondered if it was “bad luck” to “envision your next wedding.”
Dolores agreed, and so did Austen, who added, “That makes sense.”
“It’s like, just let it happen,” Michelle said. “It’s like when they renew the vows which, as we know, is the kiss of death.”
However, Dolores did gush about her Valentine’s Day plans with her man.
“Oh, so, I didn’t tell him yet, but there’s this restaurant that I’m trying to get a reservation at that you put the visual-something on, and it’s like this immersive experience,” Dolores said while motioning to her eyes.
Kate, who, like Dolores, competed in The Traitors for its first two seasons, joked that Dolores’ plans sounded like a “Traitors mission.”
“It’s a virtual reality,” Dolores confirmed. “I don’t know! So, I just really didn’t look into it, but it looked cool. So, I figured we’d do that.”
Where are Dolores and Paulie in their relationship?
Dolores and Paulie, an item since 2021, have long been in talks about a possible engagement, though one has yet to come to fruition. In RHONJ Season 13, the Housewife expressed her dissatisfaction that Paulie had yet to finalize his divorce from his estranged wife, even after the former couple had been separated for well over a decade.
However, in November 2024, Dolores told The Daily Dish she was in zero rush for Paulie to put a ring on it.
“I have pretty much everything I want, to be honest with you, and I’m [one] hundred percent honest,” she said. “I have peace in my life right now. And what more could I want? We’re happy and that’s the goal in my life. I know a lot of people who are engaged, and I know a lot of people who are married, and that doesn’t always make for the best of everything, you know? My goal is to be happy and to be peaceful.”
Watch the entire discussion on Bravo Bravo F’ing Bravo with Kate Chastain by joining Bravo Insider, and catch up on past episodes of The Real Housewives of New Jersey on Bravo and Peacock.