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Dolores Catania Opens Up About “Going Up Against the Matriarch” Caroline Manzo: Details
The RHONJ cast member details the “nerve-racking” TV appearance with the Garden State alum.
The time has come for The Real Housewives of New Jersey’s Dolores Catania and Caroline Manzo to put it all out there. The two ladies are both set to appear on E!’s Celebrity Beef in an episode airing this week, and while RHONJ fans know they are close friends, the episode offers a rare glimpse at their friendship dynamic on TV.
“I like us together,” Dolores told The Daily Dish, noting that she didn’t even think about the fact that this appearance marks what might be the first televised insider’s look at her dynamic with the RHONJ alum. “We are sincerely close. It’s very organic to be with her. For me, it’s nothing. I would think nothing of stopping by her house and just walking into her kitchen and making myself at home. So, for me to be with her in that way [on the show] was nothing.”
She also said of their friendship that “to be with Caroline is like second nature to me, because we’ve been so close for a million years, but [it was] nerve-racking to cook with her because she’s a much better cook than me.” She joked that in the episode she’s “going up against the matriarch,” who, as it turns out, was “busting my balls because she was more competitive than me with this.”
But Dolores did feel something when she saw the series’ host, Joel McHale. Dolores said she was “fangirling over Joel.”
Dolores may not have been feeling competitive, but she was feeling sick before the taping. Lucky for her, she had the support of her boyfriend, Paul “Paulie” Connell, to motivate her to get out of bed and hit the kitchen, with him telling her, “You’re from Paterson. You can do this,” she recalled.
While fans will have to wait to see who ends up victorious at the end of the episode, Dolores predicted how her RHONJ crew is going to react when they see the episode: “They’ll like it... it was nice [for me] to break away from the typical cast that I’m with.”
This season has been jam-packed with faces familiar to Bravo fans, as Flipping Out designer Jeff Lewis and actress Missi Pyle appear as well as pro wrestlers Nikki and Brie Bella.
The Real Housewives of Atlanta alum Cynthia Bailey also appeared on the series this season, going up against fellow Celebrity Big Brother Season 3 cast member Todd Bridges in a recent episode. She spoke with The Daily Dish about it.
Other contestants include Cheryl Hines and Rachael Harris, Ben Higgins and Nick Viall, Andy Grammer and Justin Baldoni, and Justin Sylvester (fans will recognize him from The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills) and Loni Love. The competition, of course, is all for a good cause, as the winner goes home with not only a trophy but also $10,000 for their charity of choice.
Watch The Real Housewives of New Jersey on Peacock and the Bravo app.
