Gia Giudice is weighing in on Lauren Manzo’s comments in the aftermath of her recent podcast episode with Dina Manzo’s daughter, Lexi Ioannou.
“My reaction [to] what her cousins have to say about it [is], they really didn’t say anything different from what Lexi said,” Gia, 24, declared during the Thursday, June 27, episode of her “Casual Chaos” podcast. “They basically said the same story that Lexi said, but tried to make themselves look better in some way.”
Lexi, 29, appeared on “Casual Chaos” last month and detailed how the arrest of former stepfather Tommy Manzo impacted her relationship with the Manzo family — specifically her cousins, and former Real Housewives of New Jersey star Caroline Manzo’s kids, Lauren, Albie Manzo and Christopher Manzo. (Tommy is the brother of Dina’s sister Caroline’s husband, Albert Manzo.)
“There was nothing groundbreaking or shocking that any of them said,” Gia continued on Thursday. “I think you all agree, and I think it’s very clear that Lexi is speaking her truth, and she is not lying, and is not leaving out any parts of the story. Ultimately, Lexi felt let down, and she’s entitled to her opinion.”
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Lexi claimed that Tommy had a “weird obsession” with her during his marriage to her mom, Dina, 53. The former couple married in 2007, when Lexi was only 6 years old. They divorced in 2016, following a four-year separation. Dina moved on with now-husband David Cantin, whom she married in 2017.
During her “Casual Chaos” podcast appearance, Lexi further alleged that Tommy “held on to my things for, you know, 10 years” after his split from Dina. After Tommy was sentenced to prison in 2024, Lexi reached out to her cousin Lauren for help with getting her stuff back. (Tommy was sentenced to 84 months in prison for “hiring, then assisting, a soldier in the Lucchese Crime Family to assault” Cantin years prior.)
“I had an understanding that he kept everything of mine all those years. So, I wanted it back,” Lexi said. “It was really difficult for me to extend myself and to ask for help, but I was that desperate. I just wanted those things back.”
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Lauren addressed Lexi’s claims in multiple TikTok videos days after Gia’s podcast went live.
Lauren stated that she “never wanted to have to address” her family’s drama on social media, but she had been receiving widespread “backlash” after the podcast episode. Per Lauren, she did attempt to retrieve Lexi’s things from Tommy’s home but was “met with a lot of resistance” and ended up burning bridges with certain people in her family — a decision she still stands by. Although Lauren is still “upset” about how everything went down.
“I still think about it often that we weren’t allowed in,” Lauren explained. “It kills me that she feels we let her down.”
