Lara Sophia 
Bravo alum Dina Manzo spilled some major tea about the Real Housewives of New Jersey and her time as a Housewife in a video posted to her YouTube channel six months ago.
During a Q&A video, Dina dishes on a bevy of topics including why she’s not a good Housewife and what really went down between her and Dolores Catania. She also discusses the drama around Teresa Giudice and Louie Ruelas’ engagement party and reveals that she almost joined the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills franchise. The RHONJ OG also discusses so much more. Let’s dive into what Dina had to say!
To start, Dina addresses why Dolores was NOT invited to Teresa and Louie’s engagement party. She also throws some shade at Melissa Gorga for throwing Teresa under the bus at the season 12 reunion for not inviting Dolores to the celebration.
According to Dina, she NEVER asked Teresa and Louie to not invite Dolores but Teresa decided to leave Dolores off the guest list just to make the evening easier for Dina. The 51-year-old explains that returning to New Jersey is super hard for her following a 2017 home invasion that left Dina and her husband, Dave Cantin bound and beaten.
“Everyone’s like saying like, what’s the real story? So you know me, I’m gonna tell the real story,” Dina said. “Here I am going back east for an event for Teresa that everyone was gonna know about. So, my initial instinct was like, ‘Teresa, I love you. Oh, I love you. I was there at the engagement. I don’t think I need to be there for the party.'”
She continues, “Because it’s hard for me to go to New Jersey. And it was a little too like real, like going to a party, whatever, whatever. Right, right. So I said, I told Dave, I’m like, I can’t do it. I can’t do it. We’ll go to the wedding and I have time to prepare for it, but I can’t do the engagement party. So anyway, she called me and she’s like, no, you’re coming. This is part of your therapy. You are coming to New Jersey and this is a great reason and you’re gonna be safe, and I promise you’re gonna be fine. So I was like, okay, fine..”
However, Dina said as the party date got closer and closer her fear and worry grew so ultimately Teresa and Louie decided to nix Dolores from the guest list to help ease just a little bit of her anxiety. Ultimately, Dina doesn’t feel comfortable being around Dolores because of her closeness with the Manzo family. As you know, Dina’s ex-husband, Tommy Manzo, has been accused of being behind the 2017 assault on Dina and Dave. After Tommy’s arrest in 2021, Dina’s sister Caroline Manzo wrote a letter of support for Tommy and his character.
“Let me first say that Dolores and I have been in the same room since our falling out of friendship. We didn’t have, like, we didn’t have this huge fight. We both saw each other at Teresa’s mother’s funeral. We were so nice to each other. As a matter of fact, she was talking about Frankie. Little, Frankie was doing something in California. I said, let him stay with me. She met Dave. It was very cordial. Very nice. I was happy to pick up where we left off. It was fine,” Dina explained.
“And I saw her one other time, I guess at Lauren’s wedding before I like left abruptly. I saw her there and again, very nice, very cordial. So it’s not about me and Dolores needing to be in the same room and what’s gonna go down. I think Dolores and I are very much the same way in that we’re not gonna make a scene where we put Teresa first. It’s not about that. It’s just about, I was really uncomfortable being on the East Coast for an event like that,” she continues.
Dina goes on to say, “The Dolores piece wasn’t the biggest problem, but it was there. So, I did say to her when I found out it was gonna be a very small, intimate party, and she was saying like, ‘Oh, you know, the girls from the show were gonna be there.’ And you know, what people don’t understand is yes, her and Dolores have known each other for 20-some-odd years, but they weren’t friends. Like Teresa and I have been friends, they were acquaintances, and they became close once she started filming for the show again. Teresa and I are like friends and have been friends since we were 20-something years old. I’m her daughter’s godmother, Dave, and Lou are very close.”
“I’m not gonna lie, it wasn’t just this, it was again, my fears were coming up and I said, listen, there are some people that are very intertwined in the Manzo family. Dolores and her family are very much intertwined and I don’t feel comfortable with that. I just don’t feel comfortable with that,” Dina admitted.
As for Dina’s favorite part of being a Housewife, she says “My favorite part…we did some fun stuff. Back then Jersey always got the shitty end of the sick with girls’ trips. Like we went to freaking Atlantic City and like Boca, [while] everyone [else] goes on freaking exotic places. But then those trips were always fun. I mean I was only on two and a half seasons, so we didn’t take that many trips. But those events were fun.”
When it comes to her biggest regret on the Real Housewives, Dina admits she wishes she had stayed on RHONJ longer.
“My biggest regret, I guess [was] leaving, but my biggest regret while being on [the show] was being so sensitive. Looking back now, I wish I had a little tougher skin with like, some of the stuff that I saw people say in interviews and not take it personally. ”
She adds that because she has so much “patience” and doesn’t react, or overreact, super fast she’s “not a good Housewife for that reason.”
“I probably would’ve stayed on longer had I not been taking things so sensitively. Because my family was like falling apart, be before my eyes and I wish I could have been stronger through it,” she reiterated.
The mom of one then revealed that she almost joined the RHOBH cast when she first moved to California. Dina also reveals that she was approached to join the season 2 cast of RHUGT but that she “can’t talk” about her “pending” legal case so it just didn’t make sense to do the show.
“When I first moved [to CA], Andy and I kind of talked about it for a minute and I spoke to the higher-ups of Bravo. We had a meeting. it was when Erica Jane just joined. and I was just like, ‘I don’t wanna be like the one who’s like the unquote poor chick’, but were not poor by any means. But, we’re not to that living this outlandish life,” she explained.
“Thank god, I don’t need the money. I’m not like promoting anything huge,” Dina said of not agreeing to do RHUGT.
Check out what else Dina had to say in the video below!
RHONJ airs on Tuesdays at 9 pm on RHOBH.
Thoughts on what Dina Manzo had to say? Sound off below!
According to Dina, Dolores was not invited to the engagement party because Teresa decided to leave her off the guest list to make the evening easier for Dina, who finds it difficult to return to New Jersey after a traumatic home invasion.
Dina feels uncomfortable being around Dolores due to her close association with the Manzo family. Dina’s ex-husband, Tommy Manzo, has been accused of being involved in the assault on Dina and her husband, and Dina’s sister Caroline Manzo wrote a letter of support for Tommy.
Dina’s biggest regret is leaving the show, but while she was on it, she wishes she had been less sensitive to the things people said in interviews. She believes she would have stayed on longer if she had been stronger and less affected by criticism.
