How Do You Win ‘Traitors’? Ask Dolores Catania

If there’s one thing we know about The Real Housewives of New Jersey‘s Dolores Catania, it’s that she is loyal to the bone. So when she entered the world of The Traitors, where deception is currency, fans wondered: How is this going to work?

Plot twist: It worked spectacularly. Dolores not only survived—she won. And in true form, she did it without betraying her core principles—while still voting out traitors and securing the bag.

In her recent Taste of Taylor interview, she revealed how she ended up in that Scottish castle, navigated a game of psychological warfare, and yes, witnessed Tom Sandoval’s sweaty armpits firsthand. 

The Jersey Queen Goes to Scotland

Dolores’ road to The Traitors started like all great reality TV castings do—when a Bravo executive casually dropped it on her lap. “Someone on Bravo said to me, would you do The Traitors? And it was one of my bosses, and I said, yes. Of course. And then when they walked out of the room, I looked at my assistant and said, ‘Fucking Google Traitors.’” 

Her assistant quickly filled her in, and just like that, she was booked. No strategy, no game plan, just Dolores being Dolores. In retrospect, that might have been the best move possible.

Why Dolores Catania Was the Perfect Choice

For those who haven’t spiraled into a Traitors-induced obsession, let me break it down: This show is basically Among Us meets Survivor with a splash of Clue. Contestants are split into Faithfuls and Traitors, and the goal is to either sniff out the liars (Faithfuls) or manipulate everyone into letting you win (Traitors). There’s deception, betrayal, and more dramatic gaslighting than a Housewives reunion.

So why was Dolores perfect? Because the woman is a walking lie detector. After surviving years of RHONJ feuds and managing a cast full of backstabbers (while keeping her Italian Catholic guilt intact), The Traitors was basically a Jersey family dinner for her. And as she said herself, she didn’t need a strategy—she had trust: “I had everybody trusting me, and the traitors didn’t even want to kill me.”

The Tom Sandoval of It All

Speaking of people who should have been voted out on sight, let’s talk about Tom Sandoval. Fresh off the Vanderpump Rules scandal that made him public enemy number one, Sandoval arrived with a game plan: Play victim, befriend outcasts, and somehow weasel into the final stretch.

Except Dolores saw right through him. “Tom was trying to take me out at every roundtable. I had enough of it.” And yet, Sandoval kept going. At one point, he even tried to convince everyone that women were the best liars. Spoken like a man who got caught lying on national television for a full decade.

And the producers? Oh, they knew what they were doing. Between the flies buzzing around his head and the excessive pit stains, they made sure America laughed at him, not with him. We wouldn’t have it any other way.

The Art of Playing Without Playing

Unlike some of the contestants (cough Danielle cough), Dolores didn’t need an Oscar-worthy performance to secure her spot. She played it cool, let the Traitors implode, and kept her alliances tight. “‘Evil can’t stay with evil,’” her mother told her before she left for the show, and she took that wisdom straight to the bank.

Dolores played the long game even when other contestants were strategizing themselves into oblivion. She built trust, stayed under the radar, and when it mattered most, made the right calls. And let’s be clear: Winning The Traitors isn’t just about making it to the end—it’s about making it to the end and having the majority believe you’re innocent.

And she did just that.

The Fashions, the Coffins, and the Chaos

If there’s one thing reality TV fans love almost as much as drama, it’s the looks. And The Traitors delivered. Dolores scrambled for a wardrobe after her stylist pulled a scam worthy of the game itself—charging her $50,000 and delivering nothing. “I had to buy everything last minute. I had $3,500 Dior shoes walking through the Scottish highlands,” Dolores said.

Then there was the coffin challenge, where players were voluntarily buried alive. Dolores? Hard pass. “I told them straight up, ‘I’m not getting in a coffin. I have claustrophobia.’” Fair. The woman survived years of Teresa Giudice’s family feuds—she doesn’t need to prove herself further.

The Jersey Victory

Ultimately, Dolores Catania walked away as a winner and a legend. She didn’t play dirty, she didn’t betray anyone she cared about, and she still got the job done. She might not have been recruited as a Traitor, but she outplayed, outwitted, and outlasted them anyway.

And best of all? She’s already down to go back. “I begged them to take me back,” she admitted. “I loved it.”

So whether it’s RHONJ, The Traitors, or whatever Bravo cooks up next, one thing is certain: Dolores Catania will always be that girl. And we’ll always be rooting for her.