Dolores Catania is officially off the market, and her fiancé Paulie Connell might have just thrown a little shade at fellow Real Housewives of New Jersey husband, Louie Ruelas, in the process.
The RHONJ star and reigning Traitors champ announced her engagement to longtime boyfriend Paulie Connell after nearly five years of dating. The couple shared the exciting news with PEOPLE, revealing that Paulie popped the question at a place that holds special meaning for them — the Apple Store in Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey — where they first met.
“I could have proposed on a yacht in Greece. 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,” Connell told PEOPLE. “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.”
While his comments sound heartfelt and romantic, Bravo fans were quick to notice that the Dublin native’s “not in Greece, no fireworks” line sure sounds like a subtle dig at Louie Ruelas — who famously proposed to Teresa Giudice with a grand fireworks display during their luxe trip to Greece back in 2021.
Connell’s emphasis on humility and simplicity contrasts sharply with Louie’s headline-making extravagance — and fans didn’t miss the irony. After all, both couples hail from the Real Housewives of New Jersey universe, where grand gestures (and drama) are practically a love language.
Still, Dolores and Paulie’s engagement sounds like a genuine, down-to-earth moment between two people who’ve taken their time to build something real. Dolores, 54, told PEOPLE, “You know when you feel that happiness down in your gut? That’s where this excitement stems from for me. I feel so blessed, I almost feel guilty! Like I don’t deserve to be loved this way.”
The proposal itself caught Dolores completely off guard — she thought she was headed to an interview, not a proposal. “He started saying these sweet, beautiful things to me out of nowhere and I was like, ‘Paul, are you okay?’ And then I realized he was proposing,” she joked.
From the Apple Store to BravoCon — this RHONJ couple is proving that romance doesn’t need fireworks or Greek yachts to shine.
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