Frank Catania on If Men Get Paid for RHONJ, & Paulie’s Divorce

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Frank Catania revealed if he and the husbands of The Real Housewives of New Jersey get paid for their roles on the show while appearing on a podcast earlier this month.

While also stating what he knows about Paul “Paulie” Connell‘s divorce, confirming his fiance Brittany Mattessich turned down a role on the show, and sharing their wedding date, Frank, 59, teased a potential spinoff and explained his status with Bravo.

“I don’t have a contract. None of the men have contracts with Bravo so we don’t get paid,” Frank revealed on the August 2 episode of the Lisa Alastuey Podcast. “There’s appearances. There’s other things with Bravo that we do where we are compensated and we are compensated quite well. But as for the show itself, we are not compensated.”

According to Frank, he believes that the network doesn’t want to pay them because if it did, it would have to extend the same generosity to the men featured in other franchises.

In addition to Frank and the other men of the series not having contracts with Bravo, they also don’t have the same restrictions as the ladies. 

“That’s why you’ll see us saying a lot more. We can say a lot more than what the women are allowed to,” he explained.

“We have a unique situation in New Jersey for the men,” he continued. “The men are much more involved in Jersey than the other franchises. And what that does is, it increases the value of our respective other when they’re negotiating their contract. If you have a partner who the fans like … that increases your value when you’re negotiating, as a woman, with Bravo.”

Although Frank and his male counterparts don’t get paid for filming seasons of RHONJ, they do get paid for the reunion specials and other Bravo-related appearances.

“We get compensated for the reunion, which [was canceled] this year. We get compensated for BravoCon. We do appearances,” he shared. “They send us on appearances sometimes, of which we get compensated for. We do other stuff on our own because of our appearance on the show that we get publicity where people will ask just to make appearances that we get compensated for.”

When Frank was then asked about spilling secrets, he said that while he is not contractually obligated to silence, Dolores Catania, 53, his former wife and the reason he’s on the show, would “catch some heat.”

“Even though there’s nothing isolating us from doing it, we know that if we open our mouths, that somebody on the other side that is gonna come down on us and yell at us is gonna get it from Bravo,” he said, noting that the women face “different” consequences.

“You’re under a gag order, not to mention anything about the season except certain things they allow you to do for publicity. But when you’re giving away maybe some storylines it’s fine but as to how it’s gonna end, you’re defeating the whole purpose and the network doesn’t make it easy. They do not take that lightly,” Frank confirmed.

During the 14th season of RHONJ, Paulie’s divorce was a hot topic as many wondered about the holdup. Of the topic, Frank noted that Paulie has been separated for many years.

“I think it’s like 12, 14 years. And I don’t get into it because, I gotta be honest with you, Dolores is one of the smartest and brightest people I know,” he stated. “Dolores is very, very street smart.”

Additionally, Paulie has a business that his wife is a big part of.

“People don’t understand, Paulie has an incredible, incredible business. He’s a great businessman and he’s got a very successful business,” Frank shared. “And when he started his business, his wife was a very, very integral part of that business. I think she basically is the controller of the company. That’s between Dolores and Paulie and I’ll leave it up to them but even if he did get divorced, his wife, who I like very much, she’s a very nice woman, will always be part of it because she’s an internal part of making that business being a successful business.”

Despite any suspicions, Frank made it clear that Dolores can handle herself and will have any conversations with Paulie that she feels are necessary.

Moving on to Brittany’s role on RHONJ, Frank said there have been talks about bringing his fiance, who he is set to wed on November 9, onto the series in a full-time role.

“She has said, ’No.’ And she’s young. And being the age that she is and she said, ‘No,’ I was very happy that she said, ‘No,” Frank admitted. “She said she’s seen too many good relationships go bad because of it. She goes, ‘I have no problem. I come on, make an appearance. I’d love to be part of it but I don’t want that obligation of having to be a contracted housewife.’ She’s got thin skin.”

Also on the podcast, Frank addressed the idea of a potential RHONJ spinoff with his fellow Jersey guys.

“We’re still in talks, believe it or not, for a show of our own,” Frank revealed. “As to how many people on the cast it would include, I’m not sure. But it’s not something that we’re pushing. We’ve got inquiries because it’s an organic relationship. It’s not as if we prepare beforehand. It just happens.”

“I’ve known Joe Gorga for 30-some odd years. Joe Benigno I’ve known for about 10 years. He’s a good friend of mine. John Fuda I’ve known for a while. I used to be his attorney. So it’s not like they just throw us in a room with people you don’t know. We’ve known each other and we know each other’s backgrounds,” he added.