When it came time for Paul “Paulie” Connell to propose to The Real Housewives of New Jersey’s Dolores Catania last November, he wanted to make sure he got the engagement ring just right… even if he ended up buying multiple options.
“So, way back when, when I realized that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with Dolores, it wasn’t too long into the relationship that I figured that out,” Paulie said during an exclusive interview with The Daily Dish earlier this month, during which he and Dolores opened up about this new chapter in their relationship. He continued, “I had been looking at rings and stones and had purchased something. And [it] ended up, she lightly told me one day what she liked and what she didn’t like. And ultimately, what I bought was definitely something she didn’t like.”
See Dolores Catania’s engagement ring from fiancé, Paul “Paulie” Connell (Photos)
The engagement ring Paulie settled on certainly has the future bride’s seal of approval. However, as it turns out, Dolores didn’t know she could have ended up with a totally different piece of engagement bling. “I think he was going off a discussion — and I’m just finding out now, in this interview, that he had another ring that I didn’t know about,” Dolores said, with Paulie adding, “You know I had this stone.”
“I know you had the stone, but I didn’t know it was something I didn’t like,” Dolores noted, with Paulie clarifying that “Well, you didn’t like the style.”
“All right, well that’s a different one then. Okay,” Dolores said.Â
When Paulie finally asked Dolores to marry him in November 2025 at the Apple store in New Jersey, where they first met, he popped the question with an 11-carat radiant-cut diamond set on a silver band lined with princess-cut accent stones. Ultimately, Paulie wanted to make sure what he ended up proposing with was the perfect ring since “that’s a big deal when you give someone an engagement ring, and they don’t like it.”
RELATED:Â Dolores Reveals How Living with Paulie Changed Her: “In Case You Wanted to Know” (EXCLUSIVE)
Dolores Catania on why she loves her engagement ring after Paulie Connell’s proposal
And while that other stone was round-cut and Dolores is more of a princess-cut fan, the RHONJ mom noted, no matter what Paulie asked her to marry him with, “I wouldn’t have turned anything down that he gave me.”
As for Dolores’ engagement ring, she weighed in on why she loves it so much. “Oh, I like the size… everything. I like the way it sparkles, and it’s a beautiful cut. It’s a beautiful style for me,” she said. “And it’s everything I could want, really.”
RELATED:Â Teresa, Melissa & Margaret Celebrate Dolores’ Engagement to Paulie: “Finally…” (EXCLUSIVE)
Dolores Catania reveals her pre-engagement cosmetic procedure on her hands
Dolores is never shy when it comes to any procedures she’s gotten over the years. And, coincidentally, she had gotten a cosmetic procedure done on her hands in the weeks before she and Paul got engaged.Â
She explained: “It’s so funny… I had gotten my hands done. I had a Renuvion treatment. Everybody’s asking me too. I had gotten [it], like, two months before I got engaged. It’s like a fat transfer with skin tightening. So people were like, ‘Oh my God,’ you know? You guys, I still had no idea that I was getting [engaged]. You know, me and my plastic surgery: I’m always honest. People are like, ‘Oh, your hands look so good.’ I had a Renuvion treatment like two months before I got engaged, in case you wanna know.”
Paulie Connells sheds new light on prepping to ask Dolores Catania to marry him
During the chat with The Daily Dish, Paulie noted how much going through the process of planning his engagement to Dolores affected him. The process allowed him to see how much Dolores is loved by everyone in her life.
“So, all along that process, I’ve always found that, you know, where we’re gonna do this, and I was always trying to pick the right date and the right time,” Paulie said about the timing around this new chapter in their lives, from the engagement to the wedding planning and beyond. “And I just think, you know, I just wanna add this in there, from the guy’s perspective, from me, I had to speak to all of the family, the children, the parents. And, it was very, very nice to feel and hear the beautiful things they said. [And] for all, they felt the same way. Dolores deserves this from everything in her life to where she is, and I just wanna make sure that the choice of being with Dolores is, obviously, someone that I love and someone that I care for. And I see how much she loves other people, and especially my kids, and the impact that she gives to people.”
What’s next for Paulie Connell and Dolores Catania after their engagement?
While wedding planning is in the mix for their future nuptials, more immediately, the pressure’s on for Paulie to get the plans just right for Valentine’s Day, which is just around the corner on February 14 “Oh my God, Valentine’s Day is my favorite holiday ever because I host every other holiday and I work, whether it’s Mother’s Day, Christmas, New Year’s. I host my family for every single holiday. And Valentine’s Day is the only one dedicated to me. And I love hearts, and I love the cutest little things. Like, my house is already decorated. So I leave it up to Paul to make it really special,” Dolores said. ” I don’t mess around with Valentine’s Day. That means a lot to me. You could s–t on my birthday. I don’t care about other things, but Valentine’s Day means a lot to me.”
Paul just teased about his plans for the day: “Stay tuned.”
Of course, Dolores and Paulie’s wedding isn’t the only major family event in the works, as her son, Frankie Jr., is also getting married soon.
–with reporting by Stephanie Gomulka
