The ‘Real Housewives of New Jersey’ star tells ET she wasn’t thrilled when Danielle returned to the fold.
Dolores Catania wasn’t on board with Danielle Staub’s return to The Real Housewives of New Jersey.
“I think it’s something we all could’ve done without,” Dolores tells ET. “I gave her the benefit of the doubt. Even hearing specific details from, not just one person, everybody can't be wrong.”
“I started out with her with a clean slate, and somebody said to me, 'So, how's it going with Danielle?'” she adds. “I say, 'She seems OK. She likes animals, she seems, like, good with kids. She seems nice.' They're like, 'Just wait. Just wait.' So, sure enough, she showed her true colors very early in.”
The pair have a screaming match on this week’s episode, after Dolores says Danielle made up comments Danielle says Dolores made about Teresa Giudice.
“What she does is, she pushes people’s buttons,” Dolores shares, “waits for a reaction, then acts like the victim. I've never seen this behavior before, so I called in my brother and my father, who are cops. And I said, ‘She's getting me to a point, I'm not gonna be able to handle this.’”
“They're like, she's a professional victim,” she continues. “You just described that. The best thing you can do is ignore her, it'll drive her crazy. And I did. And then who'd she start on? My friend, [Siggy Flicker].”
Danielle and Siggy’s problems seemingly come to a head on the all-cast trip to Italy. The season-long preview teases a dinner party fight reminiscent of the infamous table flip fight from season one.
“We got thrown out of the restaurant,” Siggy reveals.
“It’s a pressure cooker,” Dolores says.
Dolores goes on to call Danielle a “delusional woman,” adding that “a leopard doesn’t change its spots. Ever.”
The ladies describe the rest of the season as “explosive” and “dramatic” -- and yes, there’s more drama to come between Siggy and season eight newbie Margaret Josephs. Siggy and Dolores agree that their co-stars, Teresa and Melissa Gorga, were letting Margaret and Danielle “manipulate” them.
“[Our] first season we came on and we wanted to bring our friends together,” Siggy says of last year. “This season, new person comes on and wants to tear our friends away from us.”
“This is the real Siggy,” she explains. “When I'm dealt with toxic people in my life, I block you. I delete you. I try to get away from you. If you see me angry, and you see my lashing out, it's because, listen, when you're dealing with a toxic person, you're forced to be with that person, what do you want me to do? You want me to say Hava Nagila, Hava? No, no, no, no, no. You have to stand for something, and you won't fall for anything.”
The Real Housewives of New Jersey airs Wednesdays at 9 p.m. ET.