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Lexi Loannou, daughter of The Actual Housewives of New Jersey alum Dina Manzo, not too long ago shared candid insights into her sophisticated relationship together with her former stepfather, Tommy Manzo.
On the Might 26 episode of Gia Giudice’s Informal Chaos podcast, Lexi described Tommy’s conduct as unsettling, revealing, “He had this, this, like, bizarre obsession with me.” She recalled how Tommy “stored my room precisely the identical as a result of he thought I used to be going to return again. I can’t even start to grasp why he would assume I’d ever come again there.” In response to Lexi, Tommy “held on to my issues for, you recognize, 10 years” following his cut up from Dina.
Lexi Loannou additionally make clear the character of their relationship: “He by no means had youngsters of his personal and I used to be the closest factor he needed to it. So, he actually cherished me.” Nevertheless, she was fast to make clear, “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 dad and mom are that method.” She added, “To obtain it from a stepfather is form of, like, additional unusual while you don’t obtain it out of your precise father.” Lexi went on to say, “I used to be instructed to pay him that form of affection out of respect. Subsequently, I felt like our relationship was very uncomfortable for me.”
For context, Dina and Tommy married in 2007 when Lexi was simply six years outdated. The couple separated in 2012 and finalized their divorce in 2016. Dina remarried David Cantin in 2017. In the meantime, Tommy, who’s the brother of Caroline Manzo’s husband Albert Manzo, is presently serving an 84-month jail sentence for his involvement in orchestrating an assault towards Cantin in 2015.
After Tommy’s incarceration, Lexi made efforts to reclaim her belongings, reaching out to Lauren Manzo, Caroline’s daughter. “I had an understanding that he stored all the pieces of mine all these years. So, I needed it again,” she defined. “It was actually tough for me to increase myself and to ask for assist, however I used to be that determined. I simply needed these issues again.”
Lexi additionally mirrored on the emotional toll the ordeal has taken on her and her household. She recounted attending Tommy’s trial final 12 months, saying, “I went to the trial final 12 months and I sat there for per week, and I listened to everyone testify.” She contrasted her personal strategy together with her mom’s, noting, “My mother and I are so totally different like that. She couldn’t even abdomen being there for, like, half-hour. I went day by day, all day, for seven days. I wanted to know all the pieces.”
One phrase that got here up repeatedly throughout the trial, Lexi shared, was “obsessive.” She noticed, “There was some form of obsessive dysfunction occurring there with the truth that he misplaced his ‘household’ — my mother and I — and he simply misplaced management.”
Concluding on a poignant notice, Lexi acknowledged the profound ache brought on by Tommy’s actions: “A few of the issues he has executed have been essentially the most painful issues I’ve ever needed to face in my life. See my mother undergo, see Dave undergo. It’s been fully unfair.”
