Dolores Catania Defends Luis Ruelas After His Remarks About Margaret Josephs on RHONJ Season 14 Finale

Dolores Catania was in the hot seat following  “The Real Housewives of New Jersey” season 14  finale.

During an appearance on the August 4, 2024 episode of “Watch What Happens Live,” the RHONJ star was asked for her reaction to Joe Gorga’s previous comment that scumbags hang out with scumbags while talking about her boyfriend Paul Connell hanging out with Teresa Giudice’s husband Luis Ruelas.

On the RHONJ episode titled “Don’t Trial This At Home,” Catania’s’ ex-husband Frank revealed that he was invited to guys’ nights at both Gorga and Ruelas’ houses. He chose to go to Gorga’s.

“Let me ask you a question, man to man,” Gorga asked him. “Would you hang out with a scumbag?”

After Frank said no, Gorga said, “So would you go to that scumbag’s house? Because he’s a [expletive] scumbag,” he added, referring to Ruelas.

On WWHL, Dolores Catania reacted to the exchange.  “That wasn’t nice,” she said. “It really wasn’t. but are we really gonna pick apart every single thing? I know Luis, Bill [Aydin] and Paul are not scumbags. I mean, that could go both ways, so let’s keep it there.”

Fans had a big reaction to Catania’s response, especially after Ruelas made a shocking remark about Margaret Josephs on the RHONJ season 14 finale, titled “When All is Said and Done.”

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Luis Ruelas Said He Hopes Margaret Josephs Suffers

Giudice’s husband Ruelas has butted heads with her former friend Margaret Josephs for years. During the RHONJ season 13 reunion,  Josephs accused Ruelas of hiring a private investigator to call her son at work after Ruelas claimed his friend Bo Dietl to investigate the entire RHONJ cast. Josephs also admitted that she talked to Ruelas’ ex, Vanessa Reiser, about him.

In a shocking scene in the RHONJ finale, Ruelas ranted about Josephs.

“I hope Margaret and her family suffer,” he said to Giudice. “I hope her son suffers, the way I suffered, the way other people in our family have suffered with a woman like that. She is a disgusting, vile human being. …She’s a real piece of garbage.”

Following Catania’s comment that Ruelas isn’t a “scumbag,” fans felt she was taking her role as “Switzerland’ on the show too far.

“Dolores just praised Louis. I feel like she is in the same boat as Tre. Paulie is a very much proceed with caution for me. But praising Louis after he said what he said about Margaret and her family. No bueno,” one commenter wrote on Instagram.

“What about what louis said this week about Margaret and her son?” another viewer asked on TikTok.

“She only cares about her job on Bravo (and Frank’s) and is afraid to call her bestie out,” another wrote of Catania.

“Dolores seems very afraid to cross Louis,” another commenter noted.

“Exactly. And I feel like there’s something he has on Dolores,” another agreed.

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Dolores Catania Says She Doesn’t Play Both Sides of the Fence

Catania has long been accused of playing both sides with the divided RHONJ cast, hence her self-described “Switzerland’ nickname.  On WWHL, she was asked if Giudice and Josephs get mad that she is friends with the other one.

“Are you kidding me? You know the abuse I take off camera, you have no idea,” she admitted.

When host Andy Cohen told Catania that viewers wanted to know when she would stop playing both sides of the fence, she denied doing so.

“I don’t play both sides of the fence,” the RHONJ star replied. “I try to keep the peace. Playing both sides of the fence is turning on one behind their back.  I do nothing behind anybody’s back.”

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