Real Housewives of New Jersey star Danielle Staub is getting married again, just two weeks after finalizing her divorce from Marty Caffrey.
Staub, 56, is now engaged to Olivier Maier, who popped the question early Thursday morning during a vacation in St. Bath. The two plan on flying back to the U.S., where Staub will pick up her ring at Van Cleef then head to a Justice of the Peace in New York City to exchange their vows on Monday. RHONJ co-star Teresa Guidice plans to be there.
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“I’m madly in love,” Staub told PEOPLE. “I’m feeling elated and excited for the next stage of my life. I’m going to marry the man of my possible dreams and hopefully I’ll spend the rest of my life in bliss.”
Maier is German and French, and works as Speyside Equity managing director in New York. He is also the Duke of Provence, so Staub will become a duchess after they marry. He told PEOPLE his family owns 15 vineyards in France and to castles.
The couple met in October through a mutual friend Maier was dating at the time. The relationship did not bloom into a romantic one until earlier this month when they kissed at the Baccarat hotel, so it was not love at first sight.
“I quite frankly couldn’t stand him when I first met him,” Staub told PEOPLE. “He’s so strong-willed, and at first, I read that as rude, and arrogant and entitled. It wasn’t until I got to know him that I saw the other side.
Staub also said she was not quite ready to jump into a relationship so soon after her 10-month marriage to Caffrey ended, but Maier was determined to pursue Staub.
“People don’t like to take a risk, but I took a risk,” he told the magazine. “Danielle’s one of the smartest people I’ve met. People have preconceived notions about her from reality TV, but she’s a smart women. And I was instantly attracted to that.”
Maier also took the blame for how his relationship with Staub’s friend ended.
“I didn’t intend for it to happen that way, it’s my mistake. If you have to blame it on someone, blame it on me, not Danielle,” he said. “I care about Danielle. She’s phenomenal, comes from a good family and is beautiful beyond belief. I’m happy we’re together.”
This will be Maier’s second marriage and Staub’s fourth. She and Caffrey broke up four months after their wedding.
Maier has a 12-year-old child with his first wife. Staub has two daughters — Christine, 25, and Jillian, 20 — with her second husband, Thomas Staub.
After the marriage the couple plan to split their time between New York City, Staub’s New Jersey home and France.
“We’ll be going to castles and all that, and living in Paris for a certain amount of months out of the year,” she told PEOPLE. “It’s going to be far different than Jersey, that’s for sure.”
RHONJ airs on Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET on Bravo.
Photo credit: Bruce Glikas/Getty Images
