“He was by no means inappropriate, however he undoubtedly was very affectionate,” stated Lexi earlier than sharing what made her assume he had a “bizarre obsession” together with her for years after his breakup with Dina.
Dina Manzo‘s daughter, Lexi Ioannou, is opening up about her relationship together with her former stepfather, Tommy Manzo.
Whereas showing on the Might 26 episode of Gia Giudice‘s Informal Chaos podcast, the 26-year-old daughter of the Actual Housewives of New Jersey alum detailed the years she spent in Tommy’s dwelling after her mom married him in 2007.
“He had this, this, like, bizarre obsession with me,” Lexi claimed. “For years, individuals would inform me that he saved my room precisely the identical as a result of he thought I used to be going to return again. I am unable to even start to know why he would assume I’d ever come again there.”
Regardless of his cut up from Dina, Lexi stated Tommy “held on to my issues for, you realize, 10 years.”
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“He by no means had kids of his personal and I used to be the closest factor he needed to it. So, he actually cherished me,” she stated, explaining his bond together with her. “He was by no means inappropriate, however he undoubtedly was very affectionate. And that was one thing I used to be very uncomfortable with as a result of neither of my mother and father are that approach.”
“To obtain it from a stepfather is type of, like, additional unusual if you don’t obtain it out of your precise father,” she added.
Lexi famous that she was anticipated to return that affection out of obligation, which made issues worse.
“I used to be informed to pay him that type of affection out of respect,” she defined. “Subsequently, I felt like our relationship was very uncomfortable for me.”
Dina and Tommy tied the knot in 2007 when Lexi was simply six years outdated. They separated in 2012 and formally divorced in 2016.
Dina went on to marry now-husband, David Cantin, in 2017.
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Tommy, in the meantime, who’s the brother of former RHONJ star Caroline Manzo’s husband Albert Manzo, is at present serving time in jail. In 2024, he was sentenced to 84 months behind bars for hiring a Lucchese crime household soldier to assault Cantin again in 2015.
Lexi beforehand touched on her expertise together with her former stepfather in a Substack essay titled Do not Poke the Bear, the place she claimed Tommy forcibly kicked her out of the home in the course of the cut up.
“In 2012 I used to be ‘violently’ shaken awake by Tommy, who informed me I had half-hour to ‘get the f–k’ out of [his] home,” she wrote. “In that chaotic second, I misplaced not solely my dwelling, but in addition irreplaceable heirlooms collected over generations, together with my childhood keepsakes.”
“I mourn not just for myself, however for my future kids,” she added, “as these tangible connections to my household historical past have been stolen from us.”
Whereas talking with Gia on Informal Chaos, Lexi revealed that she tried to retrieve these belongings after Tommy’s sentencing, however was met with silence.
“I had an understanding that he saved all the pieces of mine all these years, so I needed it again,” she stated. “It was actually troublesome for me to increase myself and to ask for assist, however I used to be that determined. I simply needed these issues again.”
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So determined, actually, that she reached out to her cousin, Caroline’s daughter, Lauren Manzo, in hopes of getting some assist, however nothing got here of it.
Lexi additionally attended Tommy’s trial and described the emotional toll it took on her and her household.
“I went to the trial final yr and I sat there for per week, and I listened to everyone testify,” Lexi shared. “My mother and I are so completely different like that. She could not even abdomen being there for, like, half-hour. I went each day, all day, for seven days. I wanted to know all the pieces. The phrase that got here up lots was obsessive. There was some type of obsessive dysfunction occurring there with the truth that he misplaced his ‘household’ and my mother and I. He simply misplaced management.”
“A number of the issues he has achieved have been probably the most painful issues I’ve ever needed to face in my life,” she added. “[To] See my mother undergo, see Dave undergo, it has been fully unfair.”
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Lexi additionally mentioned her mother’s strained relationship with sister Caroline, telling Gia, “I do not assume my mother and her sister can ever restore what’s damaged — it is too far gone, however why cannot the cousins?”
She continued, “It pains me, however the actuality is, from my eyes, they failed me. And I had some actually superior conversations with my cousin — I lover her. I actually do. She’s the closest factor I am going to have on this lifetime to a sister. And I feel it kills each of us that we do not have one another anymore.”
