Dolores Catania and her boyfriend Paul “Paulie” Connell revealed that a date for his long-awaited divorce has finally been set.
In February 2025, “The Real Housewives of New Jersey” star and her longtime love appeared on SiriusXM’s Jeff Lewis Live and gave an update on their relationship. During the interview with Lewis, Connell shared, “My date is set for my divorce to be finalized, which is next week.”
After Lewis questioned if he should offer “congratulations” to Connell, Catania chimed in to say, “You know, a lot of people gave me a lot and him a lot about that, and he was just, whatever. I don’t care what people say, Jeff, to tell you the truth.”
Connell has been open about how he was still legally married when he started dating Catania in 2021. He has also spoken about his amicable split from his wife Joanne. The two separated well over a decade ago and Joanne filed for divorce on February 4, 2020, after 16 years of marriage, according to The Sun.
Of the slow divorce process, Connell explained to the outlet in 2023, “There’s been no really need for me to be divorced. Like, it’s not like I was getting married, or I go around marrying people for the fun of it.”
“Obviously when me and Dolores got more serious, now the conversation’s like, ‘Okay, now it’s time to close that chapter,’ and that’s it. There’s really nothing else,” he added.
In May 2024, Catania told Us Weekly that she wanted her man’s divorce to be finalized. “In all fairness, for us to be at the relationship we are, he should not be married and, yeah, I expect a divorce,” she said. “[I don’t expect] a ring [or] marriage. If it comes great, but that has to be [after a divorce].”
Dolores Catania Is In No Rush For Marriage
Catania was previously married to Frank Catania from 1994 to 1998 and shares two children, Gabby and Frank Jr., with him. The RHONJ star has long said she is in no rush to marry for a second time.
In February 2025, Catania told Hello magazine that while fans want to see her get married to Connell, that is not her goal. “My goal is to be in a relationship that’s peaceful and loving and where you grow together. And then maybe marriage comes along further down the road,” she said. “I’m not against marriage, especially for younger women. But I’m older now and our lives are so easy the way things are going. It’s a harmonious relationship. … If marriage comes along down the road, then that’s fine and I’m sure I’ll be happy. But I’m okay with the way things are now too.”
Catania told Lewis that she and Connell support each other in every way. “We get along. We do things together and we’re happy,” she said on the podcast.
Paul Connell Already Bought an Engagement Ring for Dolores Catania
Connell has said he does plan to pop the question to Catania. In a December 2024 interview with In Touch Weekly, he shared, “I have the ring. I’ve always had the [ring]. I had the stone, I bought the stone a long time ago with her. I knew what she liked.”
“It’s going to be a surprise,” he added of his future proposal to the “Real Housewives” star. “She’s going to never expect it. Whenever it happens, I’m going to throw her so off the scent that whenever it happens, she’s going to be like. ‘You mother [expletive]’.”
