Dolores Catania revealed that the new season of The Real Housewives of New Jersey, which premieres on Bravo on Feb. 1, “is going to be so good”. And remember that moment that the cast said is bigger than Teresa Giudice‘s infamous table flip? Well, Dolores told us the incident goes down in Nashville, during the cast’s “wild” trip down south. Teresa gets into a fight with Margaret Josephs and it’s “epic,” Dolores revealed. “I mean, yeah, that’s wild. Like you feel it in your gut”.
The trailer, which provided a quick glimpse at that “epic” fight, also showed a heated moment between Dolores and Jackie Goldschneider. So what was that all about? Well, Dolores told us, “I have a moment with Jackie and you know, people will see why. There’s very few things that get me to that level of anger. So, she did.”
But as far as Teresa and Margaret are concerned, Dolores told us she won’t be getting too involved. “I don’t choose sides between my friends. We’re like sisters,” she said. “[If] you choose a side and then they make up, then what? You’re an asshole? I’ll give each one my opinion — not in front of the other — I’ll tell them how I really feel. I’m honest. But how many times do these girls fight, and then, you know, they’re friends [again]? I fight my own battles and I make my own enemies.”
The trailer shows that the drama between Teresa and Margaret will stem from some rumors everyone heard about Teresa’s fiance Luis Ruelas. Just prior to the cast filming Season 12, a video of Luis at some sort of rehabilitation camp surfaced online. But that never affected Dolores’ opinion of Luis. “I haven’t changed my stance on Luis, and the relationship,” she said. “And the proof is in the pudding … They’re happy together. Isn’t that enough? Like I’ve said, meeting somebody at this stage of our lives — everybody has a past. Everybody’s been through a relationship where, you know, we weren’t all proud of them. Some were good, some weren’t, but you learn from each one. So, I take them as like, an experience that you come out of learning from or you don’t, but I see that their relationship is really good. They communicate well. She’s very happy.”
And as far as her own romantic life is concerned — Dolores confirmed that she and longtime boyfriend David Principe split, but she doesn’t have any regrets about dating him. “I have no regrets on my relationship with David because we didn’t see each other a lot, but my kids were still young and they were still home. So, David’s relationship at that time suited my life, but, you know, five years later, things need to change and [if] they don’t, it’s time to move on. But, I have no regrets. If I wanted things to be different than I can say, I stayed in there longer, but when I wanted to change and it didn’t happen, that’s when it was time to move on. I gave it a fair shot,” she said.
Dolores told us that she’s also dating someone new and “very happy.” She said her new man is an “amazing person,” and we couldn’t be more thrilled for her, but that’s all she would divulge at this time. It’s still fresh and we got the impression that she doesn’t want to jinx anything.
And when we got back to discussing the new season of RHONJ, Dolores said the Nashville trip — “besides having the most epic scene that you’ve seen in many, many years – will feature a lot of fun.” She added, “You’ll see some [friendships] rekindled and some [friendships] that may never come back. It’s not a boring trip. Let’s put it that way.”
And her own storyline this season “will show a lot of change in my life,” she said. While filming, Dolores got a call and learned that her “mom needed open heart surgery immediately. So it happened on camera. And it’s just a bumpy road from there on, and my family goes through a lot. It’s very scary.”
All in all, the new season “won’t disappoint. Everybody has their moments,” Dolores revealed. “There’s some really big shots that come out in the beginning. Like I said, friendships will be questioned. There will be a lot of fighting, but a lot of good times.”
Want more? The new season of RHONJ debuts on Bravo this Tuesday, Feb. 1, at 8pm.