Frank Catania says he tried to “keep the peace” during the explosive taping of “The Real Housewives of New Jersey” Season 13 finale.
The beloved “Househusband” told Page Six 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 go to the party, and it was nice! You’ll see, it’s a theme party, and it was great,” Frank explained.
“Listen, Paulie did an excellent job. His place was set up so beautifully … [but] we didn’t even get to all of the themes that he set up because it got so crazy.”
Cautious to not give away any spoilers from the upcoming season, Frank said of what ensued, “Let’s put it this way: There had to be people in between the women; there had to be people in between the men.”
Frank clarified that those “people” included security guards as well as cast members — himself included.
“I always try to keep the peace and calm everybody down,” he shared. “But it’s a hard crowd to keep down!”
Frank — whose girlfriend, Brittany Mattessich, joined our interview — was thrilled she happened to leave the party early so that she did not have to witness the madness.
“She doesn’t take well to aggression and screaming and yelling,” he explained as Mattessich nodded in agreement. (Do they know what show they’re on?)
“There’s a lot that happened after the finale, which determined what happened at the wedding, which is a shame.”
After Connell’s party, which took place on the night of Aug. 3, Joe Gorga decided he and his wife, Melissa Gorga, would not attend his sister Teresa Giudice’s Aug. 6 wedding to Luis “Louie” Ruelas.
As we previously reported, the decision stemmed from Giudice, 50, bringing up during the finale unfounded rumors about Melissa, 43, cheating on Joe, 42, with actor Nick Barrotta — a claim we were told the couple laughed off.
Though Mattessich described the nuptials as “beautiful” and the bride as “stunning,” she admitted she was “a little sad that [Giudice’s] brother wasn’t there.”
Frank agreed, adding that he wished Joe would have accompanied his sister to the altar.
“To see Teresa come out of the church and walk down the aisle by herself when everybody knows it should’ve been Joe next to her. … He’s the only one left, and it’s a small family,” he said, referencing the deaths of the siblings’ parents.
“That bothered me because you can’t get that back. You’re not gonna get that back. You can’t go, ‘Oh, let’s redo it.’ You’re not gonna redo it. So that was the one thing that bothered me,” Frank continued.
“And I’ve spoken to Joe about it — [he and Melissa] have very strong, strong feelings for this one. And to be honest with you, I am not optimistic on this relationship coming back together.”
Frank believes Joe would have “definitely” given Teresa away had there not been “an issue” days prior.
“I’m a little bit in the middle because I’m friends with both of them,” he told us. “Joe would’ve liked very much if I didn’t go [to the wedding] to support him, but when I told him, ‘No, Joe, that’s not gonna happen,’ he didn’t give me a hard time at all.”
Aside from missing the presence of his partner in both crime and hilarity, Frank said he “had a great time” at the wedding and that Giudice and Ruelas, 48, pulled out all the stops for their big day.
“There was nothing — nothing — that wasn’t included,” he revealed. “Talk about over-the-top — it was over-the-top in every way.”
Bravo has not yet announced the premiere date for “RHONJ” Season 13.
