Frank Catania says he tried to “keep the peace” during the explosive filming of the season 13 finale of “The Real Housewives of New Jersey.”
The beloved “Houseman” told Vidak For Congress during an exclusive interview Monday that the dramatic episode was filmed at the home of his ex-wife Dolores Catania’s boyfriend, Paul “Paulie” Connell, where the “Housewife” now lives.
“We’re going to the party, and it was fun! You’ll see, it’s a themed party and it was great,” explained Frank.
“Listen, Paulie did an excellent job. His place was set up so beautifully… [but] we didn’t even get to all the themes he had come up with because it got so crazy.”
Careful not to give away any spoilers for the upcoming season, Frank said of what followed: “Let’s put it this way: there had to be people among the women; people had to sit among the men.”
Frank clarified that those “people” were both guards and cast members — including himself.
“I always try to keep the peace and calm everyone down,” he said. “But it’s a hard crowd to stay in!”
Frank — whose girlfriend, Brittany Mattessich, took part in our interview — was overjoyed that she left the party early so she wouldn’t have to witness the madness.
“She can’t handle aggression and yelling and screaming,” he explained as Mattessich nodded in agreement. (Do they know what show they’re on?)
“A lot happened after the final, which determined what happened at the wedding, and that’s a shame.”
After Connell’s party, which took place on the night of August 3, Joe Gorga decided that he and his wife, Melissa Gorga, would not attend his sister Teresa Giudice’s August 6 wedding to Luis “Louie” Ruelas.
As we previously reported, the decision came from Giudice, 50, who brought up unfounded rumors during the final about Melissa, 43, cheating on Joe, 42, with actor Nick Barrotta – a claim we were told made the couple laugh.
Although Mattessich described the marriage as “beautiful” and the bride as “beautiful”, she admitted that she was “a little sad that [Giudice’s] brother wasn’t there.”
Frank agreed, adding that he wished Joe had accompanied his sister to the altar.
“To see Teresa come out of the church and walk down the aisle alone when everyone knows it should have been Joe next to her. … He’s the only one left, and it’s a small family,” he said, referring to the deaths of the siblings’ parents.
“That bothered me, because you can’t get that back. You won’t get that back. You can’t go, ‘Oh, let’s do it again.’ You’re not going to do it again. So that was the only thing that bothered me,” Frank continued.
“And I talked to Joe about it – [he and Melissa] have very strong, strong feelings for this one. And to be honest, I’m not optimistic about the recovery of this relationship.”
Frank believes Joe would have “certainly” given away Teresa if there hadn’t been a “problem” days earlier.
“I’m kind of in between because I’m friends with both,” he told us. “Joe would have loved it if I hadn’t gone” [to the wedding] to support him, but when I told him, ‘No, Joe, that’s not going to happen,’ he didn’t give me a hard time.”
Aside from missing out on his partner’s presence in both crime and hilarity, Frank said he “had a great time” at the wedding and Giudice and Ruelas, 48, pulled out all the stops for their big day.
“There was nothing — nothing — that wasn’t included,” he revealed. “Speaking of over-the-top – it was over-the-top in every way.”
Bravo hasn’t announced the season 13 premiere date of “RHONJ” yet.