Credit: Cindy Ord/Bravo, Bravo
Frank Catania revealed what he’s heard about the Real Housewives of New Jersey season 14 cast while appearing on Tamra Judge and Teddi Mellencamp‘s podcast on Friday.
As Dolores Catania‘s ex-husband reacted to the “nasty” things Teresa Giudice has said about him and accused Luis Ruelas of not only leaking confidential information on social media but also of costing him, Joe Gorga, and Joe Benigno, a show on another network, Frank dished on the new season and seemingly confirmed son Frankie Jr. will not be featured on future seasons.
“[Frankie] always did enjoy [the show]. [But] I think he’s done at this point,” Frank said on the June 23 episode of Two Ts in a Pod, adding that he doesn’t see Frankie filming “anymore” now that he has a “new job.”
As RHONJ fans will recall, Frankie was dragged into the drama of the show’s 13th season after his time working with Luis, and his supposed bad experience with Teresa’s husband was pulled into question.
“When he heard it was gonna be talked about, it’s like talking him off the ledge for three days when it’s really not bad,” Frank revealed, refusing to say much about the drama but confirming his issues with Luis were unrelated to Frankie.
“Your children’s job is much much more important than my ego. The only thing I will say is everyone is out there [saying] I had an issue with Luis in respect to Frankie. It had nothing to do with Frankie working for Luis,” he clarified. “Luis gave him experience. Luis gave him connections. It was an incredible experience. It had to do with other things, but.. it wasn’t that bad. It just escalated.”
As for why Dolores refused to address the issue at the reunion, Frank explained, “Any mention of it on the show will cast somewhat of shadow on him at his job, so that’s why Dolores shut it down right away. It’s very sensitive.”
Years into his guest-starring role on RHONJ, Frank joked that he should be a friend –“to say the very least” — as he revealed he is not paid “from Bravo.”
“There’s some other benefits that come with it, some other appearances,” he noted as the ladies suggested he should be getting a day rate.
“Thank you. Do me a favor when we’re done. Can you guys call [Andy Cohen] and let him know,” Frank replied.
Frank said that while he enjoys filming and hanging out with the guys, this past season was “rough.” And, in addition to that, he didn’t anticipate filming at all.
“I thought I was gonna be off this year. Dolores has a significant other [Paul Connell] who came on. I thought I was gonna be done,” he admitted. “But production kept calling me and calling me. It was probably definitely in excess of 10 different scenes that we had to do for the season.”
“[So] if we add to the strength of our significant others’ contract when it comes to renegotiations next year, then so be it,” he added.
Frank then put Luis on blast for leaking details of a private discussion they had off-camera.
“After filming last year, cameras are off, I called Luis and met him for breakfast, and I said, ‘Lu… what can we do to get Teresa and Joe back together?’ Spoke about it. I said, ‘Listen, I’ll mediate between you and Joe. Let’s see what we can do cuz that’s the only family they got, one another.’ And that particular night, on social media, what he and I discussed at this meeting, showed up on social media, some of those confidential things,” he recalled.
But because he was hopeful for a reconciliation between the Gorgas and Teresa, he tried again.
“I met with him one time after this, again to discuss it, and then when we left, again that night, some of the things we spoke in confidence about showed up on social media,” Frank shared. “[So] I picked up the phone. I call Luis. I said, ‘Luis, do you have a problem with me? What the f-ck is going on?’ ‘Absolutely not’ He told me it wasn’t him, but obviously, it was a hell of a coincidence.”
Then, as he heard “from the horse’s mouth that [Luis] had hired someone concerning a smear campaign, which got shut down pretty quick,” Frank learned the series he and the Joes of RHONJ had landed with another network had been canceled.
“We had already lost our contract with the other network, but I, truly in good faith, went back to talk to him cuz I wanted to see him and his wife and Joe to try and rectify something,” Frank explained.
As for Teresa, Frank told Tamra and Teddi that while he’s made a point to refrain from saying negative things about Teresa, she’s been trashing him.
“Teresa’s come out and said some nasty things about me now, which is a shame,” he stated. “There’s no reason for it.”
Also, on the podcast, regarding the season 14 cast, Frank said, “From what I did hear, but it’s not really a reliable source, everybody’s coming back.”
The Real Housewives of New Jersey season 14 is expected to go into production sometime in the coming months.