{"id":170659,"date":"2025-05-26T19:55:11","date_gmt":"2025-05-26T19:55:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2025\/05\/26\/rhonj-alum-dina-manzos-daughter-lexi-on-tommy-manzo-relationship\/"},"modified":"2025-05-26T19:55:11","modified_gmt":"2025-05-26T19:55:11","slug":"rhonj-alum-dina-manzos-daughter-lexi-on-tommy-manzo-relationship","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2025\/05\/26\/rhonj-alum-dina-manzos-daughter-lexi-on-tommy-manzo-relationship\/","title":{"rendered":"RHONJ Alum Dina Manzo\u2019s Daughter Lexi on Tommy Manzo Relationship"},"content":{"rendered":"


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The Real Housewives of New Jersey<\/em><\/a> alum Dina Manzo<\/strong><\/a>\u2019s daughter, Lexi Ioannou, got real about her relationship with former stepfather Tommy Manzo.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe had this, this, like, weird obsession with me,\u201d Lexi, 29, claimed when she appeared on the Monday, May 26, episode of Gia Giudice<\/strong>\u2019s \u201cCasual Chaos\u201d podcast<\/a>. \u201cFor years, people would tell me that he kept my room exactly the same because he thought I was going to come back. I can\u2019t even begin to understand why he would think I would ever come back there.\u201d<\/p>\n

She claimed that Tommy \u201cheld on to my things for, you know, 10 years\u201d after he and Dina split.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe never had children of his own and I was the closest thing he had to it. So, he really loved me,\u201d Lexi continued. \u201cHe was never inappropriate, but he definitely was very affectionate. And that was something I was very uncomfortable with because neither of my parents are that way. To receive it from a stepfather is kind of, like, extra strange when you don\u2019t receive it from your actual father.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\n Related: <\/span>Teresa Giudice Texted Dina Manzo After Ex-Husband Thomas\u2019 Conviction<\/span><\/a>
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\n\t\t\tTeresa Giudice and Dina Manzo\u2019s friendship was rumored to be dead in the water. But the former Real Housewives of New Jersey costars may in fact be friendlier than fans believe. Giudice, 52, has revealed she texted Dina, 52, after learning that her ex-husband Thomas Manzo had been convicted of hiring a mobster to assault [\u2026]\t\t<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

She added, \u201cI was told to pay him that kind of affection out of respect. Therefore, I felt like our relationship was very uncomfortable for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dina, 53, married Tommy in 2007 when Lexi was 6 years old. They separated in 2012 and divorced four years later. Dina married now-husband<\/a> David Cantin<\/strong> in 2017. (Tommy is the brother of fellow former RHONJ<\/em> star Caroline Manzo<\/strong>\u2019s husband, Albert Manzo<\/strong>.)<\/p>\n

Tommy is currently incarcerated. In October 2024, the U.S. Attorney\u2019s Office in the District of New Jersey announced that Tommy was sentenced to 84 months in prison<\/a> for \u201chiring, then assisting, a soldier in the Lucchese Crime Family to assault\u201d Cantin in 2015.<\/a><\/p>\n

Lexi first spoke about her relationship with Tommy in a Substack article titled \u201cDon\u2019t Poke the Bear,\u201d<\/a> in which she recalled the unraveling of her mom\u2019s relationship. She claimed that in 2012 she was \u201cviolently\u201d shaken awake by Tommy, who told Lexi that she had 30 minutes to \u201cget the f***\u201d out of her house.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u201cIn that chaotic moment, I lost not only my home but also irreplaceable heirlooms collected over generations along with my childhood keepsakes,\u201d she wrote at the time. \u201cI mourn not only for myself, but for my future children, as these tangible connections to my family history have been stolen from us.\u201d<\/p>\n

During Monday\u2019s podcast episode, Lexi claimed that after Tommy went to prison<\/a>, she reached out to Caroline\u2019s daughter, Lauren Manzo<\/strong>, to try and get her stuff back \u2014 but she never did.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had an understanding that he kept everything of mine all those years. So, I wanted it back,\u201d she continued. \u201cIt was really difficult for me to extend myself and to ask for help, but I was that desperate. I just wanted those things back.\u201d<\/p>\n

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