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Dolores Catania (née Spagnola; born December 28, 1970) is an American television personality, philanthropist, and entrepreneur. She is best known as a main cast member of the reality tv show The Real Housewives of New Jersey, appearing in that capacity since the show’s seventh season in 2016.

Early life

Catania was born in Paterson, New Jersey to Lawrence and Valerie Spagnola. Her father is a former Paterson Chief of Police and her mother is a homemaker. She has three sisters, Laura, Tonya, and Valerie “Val”, and a brother, Louis. She is of Italian and Irish descent.

Catania and her siblings were raised in Paterson along with her fellow Real Housewives of New Jersey co-star Teresa Giudice and Giudice’s cousin and former cast member Kathy Wakile.

In season 11 of The Real Housewives of New Jersey, Dolores revealed that her parents have remained happily married, despite living separately since her father became Paterson’s Chief of Police.[1]

Career

In her youth, Catania worked as a waitress and shampoo girl before becoming a corrections officer, following her aspirations to become a cop; she later became a realtor and surgical assistant.[2][3]

Catania made subsequent appearances on The Real Housewives of New Jersey during its early seasons before officially joining the main cast in 2016. She was voted “Miss Congeniality” across the entire Real Housewives syndicate by Bravo fans in 2018.[4] The same year she appeared in the short film, Breaking Points.[5][6] In June 2024, Catania was announced as one of the competitors of the Peacock reality competition series, The Traitors for the third season, which premiered on January 9, 2025.[7] She won the series as a “Faithful”, alongside Lord Ivar Mountbatten, Gabby Windey, and Dylan Efron.[citation needed] In November 2025, it was announced that Catania would be joining the debut season of The Real Housewives of Rhode Island in a friend of capacity.[8]

In February 2017, she and her ex-husband Frank opened the Powerhouse Fitness Center in Whippany, New Jersey.[9] In 2019, Catania re-entered real estate with Frank, specializing in flipping houses and listing a Wayne, New Jersey property in April 2019. Despite setbacks attributed to COVID-19, they continued their house flipping business throughout 2021.[10] In 2024, Catania revealed she and Frank were no longer working together in real estate.[11]

Philanthropy and recognition

In February 2017, Catania donated $100,000 worth of infant items to new parents at St. Joseph’s Children’s Hospital in Paterson, New Jersey.[12] Since 2017, Catania has hosted the annual ‘Battle for Brooklyn’ fundraising softball game for Maimonides Breast Cancer Hospital at Maimonides Park in Brooklyn, with their events often raising over $100,000.[13][14][15] Participants of the event have included Teresa Giudice, Melissa Gorga, Margaret Josephs, Kelly Killoren Bensimon, Dorinda Medley and Chanel Ayan.[16][17] In October 2020, she was recognized by Maimonides Hospital by receiving the Pink Ambassador of Hope Award at their annual Pink Runway Fashion Show.[18]

In April 2020, in attempt to benefit those affected by the Coronavirus pandemic, Catania collaborated with Spartan Team Preps, RX Water, Dolce Aesthetics NY, and Muves footwear to donate 100 meals, 240 water bottles, 100 face masks and gloves, and 100 pairs of shoes, in addition to her partnership with the nonprofit Oasis, which provided groceries to underprivileged women and children, and The Kids For Kids Foundation’s Hamburgers for Heroes initiative, which provided meals to officers and first responders.[19]

In May 2020, she, along with Julian Edelman, Isiah Thomas and Skylar Astin worked with 333 Charity and the UJA-Federation of New York to raise funds for Holocaust survivors who were unable to leave their homes due to the coronavirus.[20] Also that year, she was given the key to the city of Paterson in recognition of her dedication to the community.[21]

In July 2025, she told Us Weekly she donated her share of the $204,300 grand prize money she won on The Traitors to shelters.[22]

Personal life

Dolores married Frank Catania on September 16, 1994. The pair have two children, Gabrielle “Gaby” (born 1995) and Frank “Frankie” III (born 1998). During her first season as Housewife, Catania disclosed that Frank had been unfaithful while she was nine months pregnant with Frankie, effectively ending their marriage.

In 2017, she started dating maternal-fetal medicine specialist David Principe. The two were introduced by Catania’s friend and former co-star Siggy Flicker. The couple announced their split in December 2021.[23]

In 2021, she began dating Paul “Paulie” Connell, the Dublin-born father of two sons, whom she met in a line at an Apple Store.[24] She moved into his home shortly after they began dating.[25] In November 2025, Connell proposed to Catania in the same Apple Store where they first met.[26]

References

  1. ^ “Dolores Catania Reveals Why Her Married Parents Chose to Live Separately”. Bravo: Style and Living.
  2. ^ “Dolores Catania Breaks Down Her Impressive Résumé: What Careers Hasn’t She Had?”. Bravo: Daily Dish.
  3. ^ Adams, Cindy (December 7, 2022). “Dolores Catania wanted to be a cop before becoming a ‘Real Housewife’“. New York Post. Retrieved March 29, 2026.
  4. ^ “Your 2018 Real Housewives Awards Winners are…” Bravo: The Daily Dish.
  5. ^ Menzies, David (November 11, 2021). “Around the Sun’ podcast series from Jersey City resident features quite an ensemble, including RHONJ Dolores Catania”. Retrieved March 19, 2022.
  6. ^ “RHONJ cast member Dolores Catania in local film with Ridgewood premiere”. North Jersey Media.
  7. ^ Quinn, Dave (June 5, 2024). “The Traitors Season 3 Cast: Tom Sandoval, Chrishell Stause and Sam Asghari Among 21 Celebrity Players”. People. Retrieved June 5, 2024.
  8. ^ Tinoco, Armando (November 16, 2025). “‘The Real Housewives of Rhode Island’ Cast Revealed In First Look Trailer — BravoCon”. Deadline. Retrieved November 16, 2025.
  9. ^ “Dolores Catania Hosts Grand Opening of New Powerhouse Gym”. NJ Patch. Parsippany, New Jersey. February 6, 2017. Retrieved March 29, 2026.
  10. ^ Chambers, Hannah (April 15, 2021). “Dolores & Frank Catania Share an Exciting Update on Their House Flipping Business”. Bravo. Retrieved March 30, 2026.
  11. ^ Vena, Jocelyn (December 20, 2024). “Dolores Catania Reveals Status of Her House Flipping Business with Frank (EXCLUSIVE)”. Bravo. Retrieved 2026-03-30.
  12. ^ Greene, Jonathan (February 12, 2017). “Paterson born ‘Real Housewives’ star donates $100,000 in baby items to St. Joseph’s Children’s Hospital”. Paterson Times. Retrieved March 29, 2026.
  13. ^ Malec, Eric (March 29, 2022). “RHONJ’s Dolores Catania Teases Charity Softball Game and Jennifer Aydin’s Nasty Fall”. E! Online. Retrieved March 29, 2026.
  14. ^ Camille, Jada (June 30, 2022). “Real Housewives play Maimonides in annual ‘Battle for Brooklyn’ charity softball game”. www.brooklynpaper.com. Retrieved March 30, 2026.
  15. ^ “In 5th Annual Battle for Brooklyn, Real Housewives of NJ Face Off Against Maimonides”. Maimonides Health. Brooklyn, New York. August 16, 2024. Retrieved March 29, 2026.
  16. ^ Seaman, Olivia (August 7, 2025). “Dolores Catania leads Bravolebrities in ‘Battle 4 Brooklyn’ charity softball game at Maimonides Park”. Brooklyn Paper. Retrieved March 30, 2026.
  17. ^ Mullin, Eric (July 29, 2025). “‘RHONJ’ stars playing in celebrity softball game to benefit Brooklyn breast cancer center”. NBC New York. Retrieved March 30, 2026.
  18. ^ Walsh, Emily (October 23, 2020). “Maimonides Medical Center Brings The Fight Against Breast Cancer Online With Its 2020 Pink Runway Show”. Maimonides Health. Retrieved March 30, 2026.
  19. ^ Reslen, Eileen (April 16, 2020). “Exclusive | Dolores Catania helps donate supplies to healthcare workers at NJ hospital”. Page Six. Retrieved March 30, 2026.
  20. ^ Bitsky, Leah (May 5, 2020). “Skylar Astin, Julian Edelman and more team up to benefit holocaust survivors”. Page Six. Retrieved March 30, 2026.
  21. ^ “Dolores Catania”. Bravo. May 24, 2016. Retrieved March 30, 2026.
  22. ^ Garibaldi, Danielle Campoamor, Christina (July 19, 2025). “Dolores Catania on Traitors Prize Money and Season 4 Cast Insights”. Us Weekly. Retrieved March 30, 2026.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  23. ^ “RHONJ’s Dolores Catania Is Dating Someone New Following Split From David: ‘Gave Her All But Didn’t Get the Same’“. US Magazine.
  24. ^ “Who Is Dolores Catania’s Boyfriend, Paul Connell? Meet the Entrepreneur”. Bravo TV Official Site. 2023-04-05. Retrieved 2024-06-12.
  25. ^ “Who Is Dolores Catania’s Boyfriend? All About Paul ‘Paulie’ Connell”. Peoplemag. Retrieved 2024-06-12.
  26. ^ Quinn, Dave (November 12, 2025). “Dolores Catania and Paulie Connell Are Engaged! Inside His Surprise Proposal Where They Met Nearly 5 Years Ago (Exclusive)”. People.com. Retrieved March 30, 2026.