RHONJ’s Dolores Catania’s Boyfriend Paul Gives Update on Divorce From Ex, Plans for ‘Surprise’ Proposal

The Real Housewives of New Jersey star Dolores Catania will get engaged to boyfriend Paul Connell in the imminent future after his divorce is finalized, In Touch can exclusively report.

In fact, Dolores, 53, might’ve gotten a “surprise” proposal before the new year, but due to an unexpected personal issue with a lawyer handling the divorce, the special moment had to be pushed back.

“It really sucks because I would’ve liked to be divorced before Christmas for other reasons. Well, yeah, maybe I actually could have proposed. But [the divorce has] kind of put the kibosh on all of that stuff,” Paul, 50, exclusively spilled to In Touch, “which is OK, timing happens and if it’s meant to be, it’s meant be, right.”

According to the businessman, he and his ex-wife, Joanne Connell, have already finalized the divorce, but the judge has yet to officially put the stamp on the docs.

A hearing was supposed to take place on Friday, December 20, days before Christmas, but it unfortunately got pushed back to mid-January.

The divorce has been ongoing since February 2020 when Joanne filed the petition in New York. The couple had been married for over 16 years and have two children together – sons Kameron and Brooklyn – who have both been featured on RHONJ.

Although Joanne has not been shown on the Housewives since she’s a private person, Paul said that everything is amicable between him and his ex. “Everybody’s good. We’re all happy. Dolores is happy, the kids are happy,” Paul told In Touch. “She comes over to Dolores’ house now. We all hang out.”

When asked if he could spill any details about his much-anticipated proposal to Dolores, he revealed, “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.”

During an episode that aired in May 2023, Paul confessed to Dolores’ ex Frank Catania that he “already has” the ring.

“People don’t understand — I don’t lie,” Paul said at the time. “So, when Frank asked me that, I actually had the stone, it was sitting in my safe and I wanted to go get it and post it, but then I couldn’t do that [because] everybody would know what stone it is.”

Even though Dolores knows what type of stone she’s getting, the owner of Eco Electrical Services claims that the proposal will be a big surprise.

“It’s going to be a surprise. 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 motherf—-r,” Paul joked.

“I think Dolores will be surprised because I’ve got used to expressing my feelings with her. I never was one to do that. I got gushy over Dolores. I want that to be a special time for her more than anything, so I think she’ll probably be more surprised that I might pull something off.”

The reality star has already moved in with her boyfriend of three years into his Edgewater, New Jersey, townhouse. However, she still has her home in North Haledon, which she’s lived in for over 25 years and has, as of two years ago, made major renovations.

Paul told In Touch that they have plans to move into a new home together, but are still looking and have placed bids on houses.

“We both want the same thing. We want a nice luxurious ranch with a nice backyard, some nice car spaces,” he said. “It looks like we have to build it because we’re not finding anything on the climate market. We have been working with an architect and they’ve been putting some designs together for me.”

As seen in last season of RHONJ, Paul and Dolores had plans to work together on a new business. However, the father of two said that she has a lot going on now and is working on business development for Eco Electrical Services, which is something Paul isn’t going to take away from her.

“She has a lot of stuff going on, and she has a lot of events she’s been attending, so I’m not going to tell her to stop doing that and come to work. She puts her time in, but she’s busy,” he remarked.

Season 15 of RHONJ is expected to not return for another “year,” according to Housewives executive producer Andy Cohen.

A source told In Touch that “there is a little bit of panic across the board” because the cast hasn’t been told anything yet.

“There’s absolutely no news. Bravo has been quiet for months and everyone is still waiting to hear if their contract is going to be renewed or not,” the insider spilled.

Last season of the show featured stars Dolores, Teresa Giudice, Melissa Gorga, Jennifer Aydin, Rachel Fuda, Margaret Josephs and Danielle Cabral, along with friends Jackie Goldschneider and Jennifer Fessler.