The Untold Truth Of Lauren Manzo Scalia
Ever wonder where some of the Real Housewives kids are today? Some have elected to live quiet lives outside of the spotlight, while others seem to do all they can to stay relevant. Lauren Manzo Scalia, the only daughter of former The Real Housewives of New Jersey star Caroline Manzo, has managed to live a pretty normal life, although she does share some life updates and non-filtered opinions on social media from time to time. While Scalia got some air time when her mom starred on Bravo's reality television show The Real Housewives of New Jersey, viewers really got to know the middle Manzo child on the family's reality spin-off show Manzo'd with Children.
Manzo'd with Children premiered in 2014, but sadly enough for Scalia, her time in the spotlight was limited as it was announced in 2017 that Bravo pulled the plug on the show after three seasons. Of course, fans of the famous family — and particularly its only daughter — were left wondering what she's been up to since then. It turns out — a lot! From new business ventures to exciting news on the family front, let's take a peek into the untold truth of Lauren Manzo Scalia.
Growing up Manzo
Lauren Manzo Scalia was born in April 1988 to former Real Housewives of New Jersey star Caroline Manzo and her husband Albert Manzo. Although they may not have been the wealthiest family to appear on a Real Housewives franchise, the Manzos seemed to be doing just fine for themselves prior to the Real Housewives of New Jersey giving them some extra dough. The three Manzo kids — Scalia, older brother Albie Manzo, and baby brother Chris Manzo — were raised in the well-to-do Franklin Lakes, N.J. area in a sweet MTV cribs-style home. The family made a living with their swanky event and catering facility The Brownstone.
While the Manzos appeared to have deep enough pockets to provide a pretty nice childhood for all three Manzo kids, money couldn't buy confidence when it came to Scalia's insecurities over her weight. Scalia shared her attempts to diet and exercise on The Real Housewives of New Jersey, but having a camera shoved in her face didn't help Scalia's self-confidence. "It's hard seeing yourself on TV. The camera doesn't add 10 pounds, it adds 800 pounds!" Scalia told Us Weekly. Scalia told the same publication in a separate interview that she eventually got to the point where she was "depressed" and "hated" herself.
Lauren Manzo Scalia's weight loss journey wasn't easy
In 2011, Lauren Manzo Scalia underwent lap band surgery, which involves a silicone band being placed around the top of the stomach to help control food consumption, according to WebMD. It wasn't surprising that her parents Caroline and Albert Manzo were supportive of the procedure, as Albert had the same surgery in 2008.
Scalia, who was 185 pounds at the time of the surgery, originally wanted to stay quiet about how she lost the weight, but coming clean about having the procedure was ultimately a positive decision for Scalia. "I've gotten such a great response. It's worth it," she told Us Weekly.
While fans seemed to rally around Scalia's new body and confidence, not everyone had a positive reaction to her decision to go under the knife. Manzo's Real Housewives of New Jersey co-star Teresa Giudice told Us Weekly, "Lauren has all the time in the world to work out. She took the easy way out." Tell her how you really feel, Teresa. Fortunately, Lauren didn't seem to let Giudice's comments bother her. She told the same magazine she felt "amazing" and that "getting the lap band was the best decision of [her] life."
Following in her parents footsteps
It's no surprise that all three of the Manzo kids decided to open their own businesses after growing up in a house with parent entrepreneurs. Albie and Chris Manzo have opened multiple restaurants in Hoboken, and Lauren opened her first business, Cafface (a beauty makeup bar), in the ritzy Franklin Lakes area of New Jersey in 2012. Scalia later transformed Cafface into a blowout bar (think perfect hair blowouts, guys). Scalia told Bravo, "I wanted to add another quick service at the store to make it more convenient for someone who is going out and needs us to get them ready."
Clients obviously loved the concept as Scalia announced on Instagram in 2015 that she was opening a second location and calling it Full Blown. Unfortunately, the new venture brought about its own drama. In 2017, an electrical fire broke out in Full Blown's basement while customers were in the salon. Luckily, everyone got out safely. TMZ reported that Full Blown had water damage from the fire hoses and all the "hairdryers, brushes, and clips" had to be tossed due to smoke fumes. However, Scalia didn't let some flames hold her down long. As of this writing, the salon is fully operational.
Lauren Manzo Scalia married her brother's friend
Finding a groom didn't seem to be too difficult for Lauren Manzo Scalia. She wound up picking Vito Scalia, a college boy she met through big brother Albie Manzo. Lauren met Vito when her brother lived in the same dormitory as him at Fordham University, according to Bravo's Daily Dish. "Al knocked on Vito's door and Vito literally rolls off the top bunk," Lauren told the Daily Dish. "He had his underwear on and his hair was all messy, and he was like, 'Yo.' Literally, he couldn't have looked worse. And I was in love with him the second I saw him." Clearly that tuck and roll in his undies worked out for Vito. The pair got engaged in 2013 with Lauren telling Us Weekly at the time, "I'm so excited to spend the rest of my life with my best friend. Well he was my brothers' best friend first, but I stole him!"
Lauren and Vito tied the knot in July 2015 at surprise, surprise — The Brownstone (Lauren's parents swanky event facility in New Jersey). At the time, Lauren raved about getting her happy ending, telling Us Weekly it was, "exactly what [she] always wanted."
Lauren Manzo Scalia finally flew the coop
Mama Caroline Manzo couldn't have been prouder that her baby girl finally flew the coop! A year after Lauren Manzo Scalia and her husband Vito Scalia tied the knot, Caroline announced on Instagram that they were moving into their own pad. Lauren had previously said on Manzo'd with Children that she and Vito were planning on living with her parents to save up money to buy their first home, and clearly, that plan worked.
Lauren appeared to be taking her new housewife gig seriously from the start, too! She apparently cleaned up her act, literally. "I'm surprised at how much of a neat freak I am, although it's only been a couple weeks," Lauren told Bravo's Daily Dish in a 2016 interview. "It's funny to me because in my house she'd drink something, she'd eat something, and her weave [was] all over the place and now I go to her house and [it's], 'Ma, clean the counter.' So that's really funny for me to see that her personality changed like that," Caroline told the Daily Dish.
While adapting to a clean house regimen seemed to be easy for the new wifey, Lauren did, however, need a little extra help from mom in one department. "I'm not very good at decorating, so I'm kind of just like [to my mom], decorate [and] do whatever you want," Lauren told the same outlet.
A little fashionista is born
First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes a Scalia baby in a ... er good zodiac sign carriage? Once a husband and home were checked off Lauren Manzo Scalia's to-do list, the next obvious step was to add a baby to the mix. And she got right to it. But, prior to giving birth, Lauren was worried about what her baby's zodiac sign would be. "I'm due February 26, and there's only 28 days in February ... So I'm kind of saying it's going to be the beginning of March. But the baby's going to be a Pisces, which I was freaking out over at first, because there's a couple Pisces I know that I can't stand," Lauren told Bravo's Daily Dish.
Lauren announced the arrival of her first child, daughter Marchesa Anna Scalia (nickname "Markie"), on Instagram in February 2017. Markie is Lauren's mini-me and quite the little fashionista. And you guessed it, the baby girl was none other than a Pieces. Lauren regular shares updates of little Markie on social media, who she says was easy to name. "I always said if I ever had a girl I would name her Marchesa," she told People. "Anna is both of our grandmothers' names and it sounded nice, so it was a perfect fit. I always loved the name Marchesa — no, not named after the designer, but obviously where I heard the name first and fell in love with it."
Why isn't Lauren Manzo Scalia's hubby on her social media?
Lauren Manzo Scalia regularly shares her life happenings on social media — except when it comes to hubby Vito Scalia. In 2018, rumors started swirling that there could be trouble in paradise as people apparently started to notice that Vito was basically ghosted when it came to his wife's social media account. According to some social media scuttlebutt, Lauren also "removed 'Scalia' from her Instagram," although we're unable to confirm whether it was ever there previously.
Lauren has pretty much stayed mum on the status of her marriage, however, Vito went on the record denying any marital issues. "We just don't put our relationship on social media and people can't seem to understand that," he said on Facebook (via Page Six). He went on to say, "We are perfect!!!!!
Vito told the same publication the rumors are "absolutely not true" in January 2018. While the breakup rumors didn't inspire Lauren to post any public love declarations (or photos) of Vito on social media, mama Caroline Manzo spoke out about the divorce whisperings. "They are very much married," said Caroline on her sons Albie and Chris Manzo's podcast, Dear Albie (via The Daily Dish). "Lauren just doesn't post a lot because she doesn't want to hear your bulls**t. Plain and simple. We deal with a lot of bulls**t; she doesn't want to hear it."
She's not on social media a lot, but when she is, Lauren Manzo Scalia is unfiltered
Lauren Manzo Scalia is anything but a pushover, and she doesn't shy away from going on the record about how she really feels. When the infamous #Chickenwars started with fast food chains competing to make the best chicken sandwich in summer 2019, Popeye's quickly out-selling sandwich rose to the top. In August 2019, Forbes even reported that Popeyes officially beat out Chic-fil-A in the social media contest. However, Scalia disagreed. "I'm gonna put this on my Instagram, on record. Popeyes: Your sandwich sucks b*lls. Trash. Trash! Disgusting," Lauren posted on her Instagram story (via The Daily Dish).
She's just outspoken when it comes to her daughter Marchesa "Markie" Scalia. After getting negative comments on social media about Markie's speech, Lauren set the haters straight on social media. "I don't like how people are like, 'She needs speech therapy.' Like, shut the f**k up. She's in speech therapy. I know. I'm not stupid," Lauren told Bravo's Daily Dish. She told the media outlet Markie is "speech delayed," however, she and husband Vito Scalia are getting their child the proper therapy and it seemed to be helping. "She's only been in speech therapy for a couple months now and she's doing really, really well," Lauren told the Daily Dish. "But I don't need the Instagram people being like, 'She's not talking normal. My 2-year-old talks up a storm.'"
Lauren Manzo Scalia pays her own bills
Dollar dollar bills, ya'll! Lauren Manzo Scalia doesn't need mama Caroline Manzo's room and board or the Bravo networks money anymore. According to Celebrity Net Worth, Lauren has an estimated net worth of $1 million. While Vito works at his family deli franchise The Best of Italy by day, and is reportedly also in the seven-figure club, Lauren is busy running her beauty businesses Cafface and Full Blown.
In August 2019, Lauren announced on Instagram that she was opening her third salon Full Blown Body. The new salon located in Wayne, N.J. was set to open in Fall 2019. "When I was 23 I opened my first salon & dreamt of owning multiple locations..I can't believe it's happening," she captioned the "coming soon" announcement, which detailed that the newest venue would offer eyelash extensions, facials, and more. Pampering, anyone? Clearly the beauty niche is working well for Lauren if she's on her third storefront. You go girl.