RHONJ: Is Dolores Catania's New Boyfriend Paulie Connell Still Married?

Dolores Catania is head over heels for her new beau, Paulie Connell, and the two have even spoken about marriage. Just one question: is he still married to someone else? 

It's no secret that Connell's presence in Dolores' life has shaken things up on "The Real Housewives of New Jersey." For starters, after decades of being super close, Dolores' dynamic with ex-husband Frank Catania has gone through quite the switcheroo. It's not all that surprising, then, that when Connell revealed to Frank that he'd not just considered proposing, but purchased a ring, the reaction wasn't exactly a jovial one. "You already have it? Are you serious? Shut the f*** up," he responded. 

It's worth noting that in an "RHONJ After Show" episode, Dolores herself pointed out that she wasn't in any rush to walk down the aisle. "I'm very happy with the commitment I have right now, to be honest. But is it nice to dream in the moment, and talk about, 'Oh, if we had a wedding, what would it be like?' Doesn't mean we have to go do it tomorrow," she said. Enter Margaret Josephs with a bombshell revelation. "Yeah, you can give rings. I guess that's why you can't get married, if you're not divorced," she hinted gleefully, in a confessional. Yikes. It's pretty clear that Josephs has some thoughts on the idea of Dolores' potential nuptials, then — but what more do we know about Connell's current marital status? 

Margaret Josephs wasn't far off, with her "Real Housewives of New Jersey After Show" hints. Paulie Connell is still married — but that's not to say he and his wife are actually together. Far from it, they've been separated for years now — and according to The U.S. Sun, his wife, Joanne Connell, filed divorce papers in early 2020. 

Don't get it twisted, though: their long divorce process isn't because of a nasty custody battle, or any hard feelings towards one another. In fact, the opposite is true. As Paulie himself told the outlet, they still get on so well that going through with the divorce just didn't seem necessary. "We never had a big misunderstanding to the point where, 'I hate you, you hate me.' It was never like that ... we've just parted ways. We're still very amicable," he explained. Furthermore, he pointed out that with neither him nor Joanne looking to move on, especially early on in their separation, there was even less of a need to finalize things. "It's not like I was getting married, or I go around marrying people for the fun of it," he said. 

Well, that was true until he met Dolores Catania, anyway — and that's where he began to move forward with the divorce again. "Now the conversation's like, 'Okay, now it's time to close that chapter,' and that's it," he said. Talk about a drama-free dynamic!

Suffice it to say, Dolores Catania wasn't exactly thrilled by Margaret Josephs' comments on Paulie Connell's marital status — particularly because she's completely unfazed by it. Case in point: in response to a fan tweeting that there was nothing wrong with her being with a separated man, the "Real Housewives of New Jersey" star quipped, "Exactly."

What's more, it seems that she and Joanne Connell get along just fine themselves. As Paulie told The U.S. Sun of their dynamic, "Her and Dolores have a very good mutual understanding. She respects our relationship, respects our boundaries, she respects Dolores as a mom, and that's why she has no problem with Dolores and my children and all of us being happy families." Emphasis on the boundaries, there, because as "RHONJ" fans will know, most of Paulie's frustrations with Frank Catania stem from Dolores' ex-husband not being quite as mindful of them. As seen in one episode, after being reminded by Dolores that he and Joanne were also close, Paulie pointed out that Frank took things a step further by living with her ex, David Principe, and calling "50 times a day." 

There's no denying that it'll take some time for everyone to get completely used to the new dynamic now that Paulie is in the picture. However, one thing that certainly isn't a problem for anyone involved is Paulie's yet-to-be-finalized divorce.