RHONJ Throwback: Dolores and Frank Catania when they were married

RHONJ’s Dolores and Frank Catania are now happily un-married. They split up 20 years ago after Dolores found out Frank was cheating on her while she was pregnant with their second child: Frank Jr. (now 23.) Still, they’ve remained close over the years and even continue to live together sometimes while they’re dating other people.

Dolores and Frank are soulmates

This season Frank has told cameras “even though we’re not romantically involved, I’m still her soulmate,” and Dolores has agreed. He’s also said that she was the perfect wife, and it was him that messed everything up.

In 2021, Dolores told US Weekly that while she and Frank were divorced, they had never really separated.

Dolores thinks that maybe someday she’ll get married again someday, but she enjoys the freedom of being an unmarried woman. It’s not something she could conceive of until she got divorced, and now she loves it. “I’ve gotten used to the freedom that I have now without the kids, without responsibilities, without accountabilities. I don’t know, maybe I’d get married and live separate,” Dolores said. “When I first got married to Frank, I didn’t know that there was an option to live a life without being married. It was the way I was raised. You graduate, you become a wife and a mother, and that’s just the only mentality I knew. But now, I grow so much from freedom. You grow so much, and you learn so much more about yourself. So, I’ve learned a lot about myself and had a lot of time to think about things.”

Why Dolores and Frank got divorced

In 2016, Dolores spoke about how things weren’t always so good between them. When she was nine months pregnant with Frank Jr., Frank left the family because he was cheating. Even though the marriage didn’t survive, Frank and Dolores eventually found their way back to being best friends. “We had a very difficult time years ago and I had a lot of pain and anger to deal with,” she told Bravo’s The Daily Dish. “I mean, he cheated (he is not with that woman now, Thank God) and ended up leaving us right before I was supposed to give birth,” Dolores said. “It took a lot of blood, sweat and tears but we were able to work it out. It certainly wasn’t always easy or anything like it looks now.”

Do Dolores and Frank ever have sex?

Even though Dolores and Frank are good friends, they haven’t had sex since Frankie Jr. was conceived over 20 years ago. During the Season 10 reunion in 2020, Andy Cohen asked Dolores about her sex life with Frank and pointed out that a lot of fans wish they would get together. “I want to thank them for loving me and Frank together so much, but that’s not happening,” Dolores quipped.

Where did Frank and Dolores meet?

Frank first met Dolores at a party where she was waitressing. He was an attorney at the time, and asked her out. She said yes, and in a way, they’ve been together ever since.

Frank and Dolores’ first New Year’s

During a trip to the Jersey Shore with the cast, Frank and Dolores were staying at their beach house. Dolores was cleaning up some stuff while she was there and found a photo of their very first New Year’s together.

Dolores shared that she was very excited that year to be spending New Year’s with her new, older boyfriend. Dolores said that night Frank spent the night at her parents’ house. He wasn’t allowed in Dolores’ bedroom, so he was sleeping on a mattress in front of the couch and he woke up because he felt wet and thought the dog was peeing on him. It wasn’t the dog, but Dolores’ mom was throwing holy water on him.