Dolores Catania
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
December 28, 1970
- Entrepreneur
- philanthropist
- television personality
Dolores Catania | |
|---|---|
 Catania at premiere of Breaking Points | |
| Born | Dolores Spagnola December 28, 1970 Paterson, New Jersey, U.S. |
| Occupations |
|
| Years active | 2009–present |
| Spouse |
Frank Catania II
(m. 1994; div. 1998) |
| Partner(s) | David Principe (2017–2021) Paulie Connell (2021–present; engaged) |
| Children | 2 |
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.
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]
