Dolores Catania was asked about the root of her issues with Dina Manzo on Tuesday’s episode of Watch What Happens Live.
After she was given Dina’s bridesmaid role on the latest episode of The Real Housewives of New Jersey after Dina backed out of the event, Dolores spoke of their relationship before admitting to losing weight with Mounjaro, a drug similar to Ozempic, reacting to Luis Ruelas‘ heightened emotions, and more.
“There are no issues,” Dolores confirmed of her and Dina on the April 4 episode of WWHL. “We just kinda separated ways and our friendship just dissipated. She stayed on the show; I wasn’t on the show. And she had moved and all this stuff.”
While Dolores agreed with Andy Cohen that she didn’t want to discuss Dina on Tuesday’s RHONJ, she clarified that the two of them “never got in a fight.”
“That’s the truth. We never got in a fight. I haven’t seen her or talked to her in like 10 years. Maybe once at Teresa’s mom’s funeral,” she explained, noting that she doesn’t know what happened between Dina and Teresa.
“[Teresa] never talked to me about that,” she revealed. “I don’t have anything to do with that relationship with her. There’s a common, um, understanding between me and Teresa. I don’t ask questions unless she tells me something and it’s the same thing here. If she wants to tell me, that’s fine.”
And even though she wasn’t a bridesmaid until Dina’s exit from Teresa’s wedding, she didn’t feel like a second choice.
“I didn’t feel that way at all,” she insisted.
After Andy noted that Dolores looked thin, she replied, “Thank you,” and proceeded to say, “Yep,” when Andy asked her if she was taking Ozempic (she later confirmed she’s been taking Mounjaro for six weeks).
Dolores went on to say that “not one” housewife isn’t using the diabetes medication, which also aids in weight loss. And when Andy said “half” of Dolores’ cast was on it, Dolores agreed.
“I know. I wasn’t going to come to reunion looking bigger than anyone else so I got on the bandwagon,” she explained, saying the only side effect is that she is “just not hungry.”
“Reunion’s in two weeks and I do have a trainer… I tell the truth,” she added.
As for Luis’ very emotional reaction to his feud with Joe Gorga, Dolores suspected his outburst was the result of “built up tension.”
“The wedding was coming and he wanted everybody to be there and he saw right then and there it was going to happen and he was very emotional,” Dolores explained. “I had just missed that because [Paul Connell] was sick and I left.”
Luis also drew criticism for wearing Teresa’s dad’s pajamas, even though Nonno “never wore them,” and he faced backlash for “pizza gate,” which was meant to be a pizza oven business shared by him and Joe.
“There’s different things coming out and I still haven’t heard the whole story,” Dolores confessed. “[It’s] very new every day.”
Regarding her own back-and-forth drama with Jennifer Aydin, Dolores said their recent truce on RHONJ will last “until the next time.”
“I hope it does but who knows?” she asked.
Although Luis has been blamed for causing issues between Teresa and her brother, Dolores doesn’t think he’s responsible for their current estrangement.
“I don’t think Luis is the cause of that,” she stated. “There’s been a lot of things going on long before Luis … They say, ‘Oh, Luis came into the picture, now they’re not gonna get along again.’ But this has been a long time coming.”
Later, on the WWHL: After Show, Dolores joked that she’s “got this thing in my neck” when Andy mentioned the impending taping of the RHONJ reunion and suggested there’s nowhere for Teresa and Melissa Gorga to go.
“I feel that way. Teresa feels that way also. They all feel the same way,” Dolores stated, agreeing with Andy that there’s a sense of clarity between the women. “Where do we go from here?”
The Real Housewives of New Jersey season 13 airs Tuesdays at 9/8c on Bravo.