Dolores Catania is not impressed with her The Real Housewives of New Jersey co-stars.
The longtime cast member opened up to People about the extended hiatus and uncertain future surrounding the Bravo series in the wake of its most polarizing season yet.
The 53-year-old admitted being “a little mad” about the situation.
“We didn’t film last season, so we’re not coming back… we’re not going to be airing in January or February,” the fan-favorite declared.
Despite the division among the ladies when RHONJ Season 14 concluded earlier this year, Dolores said she would be excited about the prospect of working with them again, but she stressed that “they made a mess.”
“I’m a little mad that everybody couldn’t get it together. I really am.”
Dolores appeared on Season 14 alongside Teresa Giudice, Melissa Gorga, Margaret Josephs, Jennifer Aydin, Jackie Goldschneider, Jenn Fessler, Rachel Fuda, and Danielle Cabral.
Dolores had a plan to unite the women
While filming, Dolores recognized that the current cast had no way forward and set out to fix things during the August season finale.
In a last-ditch effort to secure the show’s future, she rounded up the women at Rails Steak House, where pitchers flew, and one of the cast lunged across a table to fight another.
It was an utter embarrassment, but Dolores was the only cast member who realized the writing was on the wall and tried to give the women a platform to air their grievances and move on.
Sadly, by the end, everyone was more divided than ever, compelling producers to cancel the traditional reunion in favor of a watch-party-style gathering with the cast divided into two rooms.
Dolores shed light on her mindset going into Rails Steak House, revealing that she “spoke to a therapist and asked for some tips on going in and speaking to the women.”
“No matter what I did on and off camera, nothing helped,” she conceded.
“I sat there and I knew you wouldn’t be seeing us for a while, I saw it coming.”
Dolores thinks the RHONJ women need to regroup
Dolores believes the RHONJ ladies have lost something along the way and points out that cast members from other cities know how to argue and resolve their issues before they cause problems with production.
She believes the show could return with the same women when enough time has passed, but she added that she’s “not so sure” the widely reported reboot would work.
Andy Cohen claimed earlier this year that a revamp was in the works. More recently, he complained about the constant questions and implied that viewers would wait until 2026 for RHONJ Season 15.
Given the lack of updates, producers and network executives may keep the cast relatively unchanged, but that would mean Teresa would have to learn to coexist with Melissa and Margaret.
Since the show wrapped, there has been continued back-and-forth with the women, which isn’t a good sign.
Bravo famously rebooted The Real Housewives of New York, but the second season with the new ladies is already flatlining, so time will tell what will happen.
As for Dolores, she’ll be back on TV screens in a few weeks as one of the stars of The Traitors Season 3.
The Real Housewives of New Jersey is currently on hiatus. You can stream Seasons 1-14 on Peacock.
The RHONJ fans miss the franchise. BRAVO should be making plans to bring it back, but, please get rid of Teresa. She’s a liar who does not deserve to be back on the show!