The season 13 finale of Real Housewives of New Jersey is promising to be a doozy. Reports have indicated that Teresa Giudice exposed a rumor about her sister-in-law Melissa Gorga (i.e. her alleged affair with actor Nick Barotta).
The rumor allegedly influenced Melissa and her husband Joe’s decision to skip Teresa’s wedding. News of their absence at the nuptials ricocheted through the fan base, shocking many viewers.
Speaking with Page Six, Frank Catania shared details about the mysterious finale, which seemed to incite all the chaos. At the taping — which took place at the house of Paul “Paulie” Connell, the boyfriend of Frank’s ex-wife Dolores Catania — Frank attempted to “keep the peace.”
“We go to the party, and it was nice! You’ll see, it’s a theme party, and it was great,” said Frank. “Listen, Paulie did an excellent job. His place was set up so beautifully … [but] we didn’t even get to all of the themes that he set up because it got so crazy.”
The former attorney explained, “Let’s put it this way: There had to be people in between the women; there had to be people in between the men.”
According to Frank, some of these “people” were security guards, some were castmates, and one was himself.
“I always try to keep the peace and calm everybody down,” he explained. “But it’s a hard crowd to keep down!”
Frank’s girlfriend Brittany Mattessich, who was present in the interview, said she was glad she left early, missing the chaos.
“She doesn’t take well to aggression and screaming and yelling,” said Frank. “There’s a lot that happened after the finale, which determined what happened at the wedding, which is a shame.”
After this finale, Joe made his decision to skip the wedding.
Frank’s girlfriend, who was in attendance, said the ceremony was “beautiful” and Teresa was “stunning,” though Brittany shared it was “a little sad that [Teresa’s] brother wasn’t there.”
Frank added, “To see Teresa come out of the church and walk down the aisle by herself when everybody knows it should’ve been Joe next to her. … He’s the only one left, and it’s a small family.”
“That bothered me because you can’t get that back,” he went on. “You’re not gonna get that back. You can’t go, ‘Oh, let’s redo it.’ You’re not gonna redo it. So that was the one thing that bothered me.”
The father-of-two continued, “And I’ve spoken to Joe about it — [he and Melissa] have very strong, strong feelings for this one. And to be honest with you, I am not optimistic on this relationship coming back together.”
Frank “definitely” believes that Joe would have walked Teresa down the aisle if there wasn’t an “issue” a few days earlier.
“I’m a little bit in the middle because I’m friends with both of them,” said Frank. “Joe would’ve liked very much if I didn’t go [to the wedding] to support him, but when I told him, ‘No, Joe, that’s not gonna happen,’ he didn’t give me a hard time at all.”
Though he missed his friend’s presence, Frank claimed he “had a great time” at the nuptials, and it was a grand affair. “There was nothing — nothing — that wasn’t included,” he shared. “Talk about over-the-top — it was over-the-top in every way.”
Frank also revealed how Brittany was received by his loved ones. He said even his daughter Gabby, who is often his “harshest critic,” adores the new girlfriend.
“Gabby says, ‘How do you not like Brittany? You can’t help but like Brittany!’ … It’s not only my daughter; it’s the entire family. And Dolores, too!” explained Frank.
When the outlet asked Brittany how it felt to be accepted by Frank’s family, she expressed, “Thank God.”
“Oh, I love it,” she said. “You know, that’s all you ever want.”
In the interview, the couple explained they were friends for a decade, romantic for three years, and have been seeing each other seriously for “six to eight months.”
According to Frank, Brittany gets along with not only Dolores but also her RHONJ co-stars, who welcomed her warmly.
“Brittany started to film this year,” said Frank, and he added that “everybody on the cast likes her. You can’t start with Brittany. You can’t argue with Brittany. You just can’t. If you do, you look bad.”
Frank went on to say, “I try to block her from any controversy as well. I’ll interject before it gets anywhere.”
The star said he and his ex-wife (who are still close friends) had a “family meeting” with their partners and children, which was filmed by Bravo. Frank’s unconventional friendship with his ex-wife has not impacted his relationship with Brittany.
“Before me and Brittany were an item, she knew the relationship between Dolores and I,” he said. “And she knew Dolores; she was around Dolores. And when we started dating, I gotta be honest with you, it was not a problem whatsoever.”
Frank revealed that all four of them — Dolores, Brittany, Paulie, and himself — recently went out together for a double date.
“Brittany came around, [and] it took her a little while just to get used to the semantics. But quite honestly, Brittany is perfectly OK. And the more somebody hangs out with Dolores and I on a casual basis, you realize there’s nothing to worry about.”
“And that’s a little bit of a hurdle we have with Dolores’ new boyfriend, so we’re trying to get over that,” he continued, referring to Paulie, who he once compared to Buzz Lightyear.
“We’re gettin’ there. We’re doing pretty good,” he said.
While Frank admitted that the situation is “getting much, much better,” he also expressed that the dynamic with Paulie will “never be to the point of me and David [Principe]” — Dolores’ ex, who became Frank’s good friend.
“I mean, David’s one of my best friends,” said Frank, who believes this may have added to his “hurdles” with Paulie.
“Maybe a little bit it does [bother Paulie], but I gotta tell you, when Dolores and David first broke up, Dolores told me and the kids, ‘Guys, please, you have your own relationship with him. Don’t let my relationship with him affect that.’ And quite honestly, it didn’t,” said the star, and he shared that he wishes to “see Dolores happy.”
His ex-wife is now in such a good place that she “didn’t make it down to the [Jersey] Shore house and hang out with us” this summer, which was a first.
Brittany told the host that she met Frank when he was her trainer for various fitness competitions, and she “always had a crush” on him.
“Same thing like Teresa did when Frank helped her. I was doing the same thing — bikini,” said Frank. “And she won! She won all her shows.”
How does Brittany handle all the fans who have crushes on Frank? “It’s a lot,” she answered, but she explained that she deals with it “really well.”
“I don’t know if many other girls could do it,” she added. “But I think I do a good job. Right, babe?”
Her boyfriend concurred, sharing, “Half the time, she’s the one taking the picture!”
“Brittany’s a very secure person,” he continued. “She’s got thin skin, but she’s very secure.”