Lexi Ioannou, daughter of former Real Housewives of New Jersey star Dina Manzo, is opening up further about her fractured ties to the Manzo family—and it’s clear there’s a lot of pain still lingering.
ICYMI: Dina was married to Tommy Manzo, brother to Caroline Manzo’s husband, Albert.
Yep—sisters married brothers.
But after Dina and Tommy’s split, the Manzo fam publicly aligned themselves with Tommy—even writing character statements for him during a shocking trial that accused him of hiring someone to attack Dina and her then-fiancé (now husband), Dave Cantin.
Lexi, who once lived with the Manzos for three years during her childhood, revealed on the Casual Chaos podcast that she now considers them “complete strangers.”
“Lauren was there when I shaved my legs for the first time. She dropped me off at a boy’s house for my first kiss,” Lexi recalled. “Albie and Christopher were like brothers to me… and now we don’t speak.”
Lexi said she stayed quiet for years, always trying to be “Switzerland” during the family tension. But after publishing her October 2024 essay Don’t Poke the Bear, she felt ready to tell her story.
One of the biggest heartbreaks for her? Reaching out years later to try and retrieve childhood belongings—and getting no response.
“I’m sure if you ask them, they’ll say they did everything they could. But if you ask me, it wasn’t nearly enough,” she admitted. “They disappointed me again.”
Lexi hoped the cousins she grew up with would still show up for her, even if their mothers were no longer close. Instead, she says their silence spoke volumes.
Listen to the episode below:
