Dolores Catania (''née'' Spagnola; born December 28, 1970) is an American

television personality Celebrity is a condition of fame and broad public recognition of a person or group due to the attention given to them by mass media. The word is also used to refer to famous individuals. A person may attain celebrity status by having great w ...

philanthropist Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives for the public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private good, focusing on material ...

, and

entrepreneur Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value in ways that generally entail beyond the minimal amount of risk (assumed by a traditional business), and potentially involving values besides simply economic ones. An entreprene ...

. She is best known as a main cast member of ''

The Real Housewives of New Jersey ''The Real Housewives of New Jersey'', abbreviated ''RHONJ'', is an American reality television series that premiered on May 12, 2009, on Bravo. Developed as the fourth installment of ''The Real Housewives'' franchise, it has aired fourteen sea ...

'', appearing in that capacity since the show's seventh season in 2016.

Early life

Catania was born in

Paterson, New Jersey Paterson ( ) is the largest City (New Jersey), city in and the county seat of Passaic County, New Jersey, Passaic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.Real Housewives of New Jersey ''The Real Housewives of New Jersey'', abbreviated ''RHONJ'', is an American reality television series that premiered on May 12, 2009, on Bravo. Developed as the fourth installment of ''The Real Housewives'' franchise, it has aired fourteen sea ...

'' co-star

Teresa Giudice Teresa Giudice ( , ; ; born May 18, 1972) is an American television personality best known for being in '' The Real Housewives of New Jersey''. Besides appearing on the show, Giudice wrote multiple ''New York Times'' bestseller cookbooks and wa ...

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.

Career

Prior to joining the ''Housewives'', Dolores had been employed as a waitress, shampoo girl, corrections officer, realtor, and surgical assistant. She actively owns a fitness franchise and flips houses with her ex-husband. She is a philanthropist, supporting many charitable causes (e.g., animal welfare and local relief efforts). She has also appeared in several independent projects, including ''Breaking Points'' and ''

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'' by Brad Forenza. In 2016, Catania joined the main cast starting in season 7. Since joining the series, her storylines have primarily focused on her romantic life, relationship with her ex, motherhood, self-discovery, loyalty, and independence and since joining has been ranked as one of the most relatable housewives and was voted "Miss Congeniality" across the entire ''Real Housewives'' syndicate by

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fans in 2018. In June 2024, Catania was announced as one of the competitors of the

Peacock Peafowl is a common name for two bird species of the genus '' Pavo'' and one species of the closely related genus '' Afropavo'' within the tribe Pavonini of the family Phasianidae (the pheasants and their allies). Male peafowl are referred t ...

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series, ''

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'' for the third season, which premiered on January 9, 2025. She won the series as a Faithful, alongside

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, and

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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 Sigalit "Siggy" Flicker ( Paldiel; born June 1, 1967) is an Israeli-American matchmaker, podcaster, television personality, and writer. She starred in the VH1 reality-television series ''Why Am I Still Single?!'' and was a cast member on the sev ...

. The couple announced their split in December 2021. In 2021, she began dating Paul "Paulie" Connell, the

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

-born father of two sons, whom she met in a line at an

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. She moved into his home shortly after they began dating.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Catania, Dolores 1970 births Living people Television personalities from New Jersey People from Paterson, New Jersey American people of Irish descent American people of Italian descent Participants in American reality television series American women television personalities