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“The Real Housewives of New Jersey” star Dolores Catania exclusively told Page Six why her ex-husband Frank Catania — a former bodybuilder — will “test his strength” ahead of his surgery stemming from a fall.

“This will be the first time Frank is physically defeated,” the reality star told us at Dolce Aestherics‘ beauty mixer in New York on Tuesday. “He’s going to lose his muscles for the first time in his life. Those huge, big legs. Those 20-inch arms. How is Frank mentally going to handle this? What defined him was his body and working out.”

Dolores, 48, shared on her Instagram Stories that Frank is being treated at St. Joseph’s hospital in Paterson, NJ, for detached kneecaps and tears in his quadriceps. She regularly volunteers there.

“I came home late one day, and I didn’t do the dishes, and the next thing you know, Dolores throws me down the stairs,” Frank joked in the videos about his injuries.

“Tell the truth, Frank,” Dolores chimed in before her ex revealed, “I fell.”

The “RHONJ” star told us the accident occurred Monday, and said Frank is having “emergency surgery” on Wednesday.

She also shared that her current boyfriend, David Principe, was with her ex-husband while she was at the event.

“David will stay in the hospital with him overnight until he goes in for surgery,” she said. “I’m probably going to have to take care of him until he can walk again.”

Dolores also told us that “The Real Housewives of New Jersey” is set to film again in March, so the Bravo cameras will likely capture a good portion of Frank’s recovery.

“It’s a long road,” she said. “It’s going to test his strength, and maybe part of my self-growth is going to help him. We’ll make it positive.”