After years of anticipation, Paulie Connell finally put a ring on it.
The Irish-born entrepreneur proposed to Dolores Catania this week with a jaw-dropping sparkler from John Anthony Jewelers — a family-owned company based in Woodcliff, New Jersey. Paulie dished on the engagement ring in an interview with People magazine, revealing it was not the rock he originally purchased a few years ago.
Paulie Connell ditched the original diamond he bought for Dolores Catania
“If you remember, there was an episode of RHONJ where I said, ‘I have the ring,’” he told the outlet, referring to The Real Housewives of New Jersey Season 13, Episode 14. “Well, I didn’t have the ring, but I had bought a stone early on into dating Dolores, thinking, ‘If we get engaged, I’ll use this.’ But then over the years of getting to know Dolores better, she started talking to me about what she liked, and I realized it was opposite of what I got. So I went back to the drawing board.”
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As seen on Instagram, Paulie presented Dolores with an 11-carat radiant-cut diamond set on a silver band lined with princess-cut accent stones.
“Go big or go home,” Dolores joked about the design.
Paulie Connell explains why he waited so long to pop the question
Although he proposed to Dolores on November 10, Paulie confirmed he had been hanging onto the ring for quite some time. And, no, it wasn’t because he was hesitant to pop the question; he simply didn’t want to overshadow other engagements within the Catania family. In 2023, Dolores’ ex-husband, Frank Catania, proposed to his longtime partner, Brittany Mattessich. In early 2025, Dolores and Frank’s only son, Frankie Catania Jr., got engaged to Nicole Perricho.
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“I was like, ‘Get the f–; out of here!’ ” Paulie joked about the Catanias’ proposals. “I kept saying to myself, ‘Maybe no one wants me to marry Dolores!?!”
But the delayed proposal worked out perfectly, as it went down exactly four years after Dolores moved in with Paulie. The father of two popped the question at an Apple Store in Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey, which is where he and Dolores met roughly five years ago.
“I could have proposed on a yacht in Greece,” he said. “I could have rented a grand hall, invited 400 people, and asked her to marry me with fireworks in the background. But that’s not who we are. I didn’t want anything over-the-top and staged because we’re a humble couple. I wanted it to feel grounded and natural and organic. Plus, I wanted the element of surprise. And believe me, I had the element of surprise.”
Dolores Catania reflects on Paulie Connell’s Apple Store proposal
Indeed, he did. Dolores said she was completely caught off guard by the proposal, as their trip to the Apple Store seemed like a last-minute decision.
“I was told I had a meeting in the morning,” she recalled. “So I had hair and makeup here, and then halfway through, I was told the meeting was cancelled. So Paul said, ‘Oh great, we have time to go get your new iPhone now.’”
The Apple Store staff was, of course, in on the surprise and made sure to direct Dolores and Paulie to the exact spot of their first encounter. Once they arrived at the table, Paulie began reflecting on his and Dolores’ relationship, before getting on one knee and proposing.
“I immediately said yes,” Dolores recalled. “The whole thing was so sincere and so thoughtful. And then when I came home, there was over 1,000 roses [by Premiere Events by Reema] waiting for me. I mean, he really hit it out of the park.”
Get more details on the couple’s years-long relationship, and why Dolores was in no rush to tie the knot.
