Caroline Manzo recently said she wants to return to The Real Housewives of New Jersey so she can verbally “knock the s***” out of and “slap” her longtime rival, Teresa Giudice. So when we recently interviewed Caroline’s longtime friend, fellow RHONJ star Dolores Catania, about her upcoming appearance on E!’s Celebrity Beef, we had to get her thoughts on Caroline potentially returning to the series.
“[Caroline] and I revisit that conversation [about her returning to RHONJ] every once in a while, and it’s not something where I say, ‘Never say never’,” Dolores told HollywoodLife EXCLUSIVELY, while on the newest episode of our Pay Attention Puh-Lease! podcast. “We’ve all learned not to say that — people have come and gone, right? I think some people that have left are coming back this year I’ve seen. So, you know, I’d love to see it. [But] at the same time, she doesn’t get along with another friend of mine — Teresa — so it’s easier to manage with them not being put together in the same room when I’m there.”
Dolores didn’t outright say whether or not Caroline, who she’ll compete against on the Sept. 13 episode of Celebrity Beef, will be returning RHONJ, but it seems promising that they regularly have conversations about it. “I’m not [ready for the fight between her and Teresa]. I’m not ready for that…” She might not be ready, but we certainly are! And it seems like the only thing holding back Caroline’s return is money.
“Bravo doesn’t wanna pay me,” she alleged while speaking with her son, Albie, on a May 18, 2022 episode of his podcast. “So guess what, Bravo? You don’t get this for free. You don’t get the dame for free, Bravo. They are paying Teresa, I’m sure, an exorbitant amount of money.”
Caroline, who starred on the show throughout the first five seasons, previously revealed that Bravo asked her to return to the show ahead of Season 10, but when she was only offered a “friend of” role to start, she declined the offer.
“They wanted me back to see how I blend with the women — that’s an insult,” she said during a 2019 episode of Albie’s podcast. “I helped build that show. I wasn’t the cause of that success, I was part of that puzzle. A very, very important puzzle. Point is, you don’t insult me like that. You don’t insult me like that by saying, ‘Let’s see how you do.’ You know how I’m going to do. You know how I’m going to blend, and you know what I’m going to bring.”
“Pay me what I’m worth, OK?” she continued. “You got an OG here, and I’m going to be arrogant … It’s just a matter of respect! I was one of the original women who built the show. I’m one of the original women they still talk about, OK? Don’t come back to me like a newbie and [expect] I’m going to fall for your bulls**t because I’m not. You come back to me and give me a reasonable compensation and a reasonable position where I feel I belong, OK, then I’ll come back.”
Want more from Dolores and Caroline? Watch their new episode of Celebrity Beef, airing on Sept. 13 at 10pm on E!