Wat-Not Staff
She is the daughter of former star for Real Housewives of New Jersey, Dina Manzo. Alexia Ioannu, 28-year-old, took to Instagram on October 23, 2024, sharing an extremely strong post about how her stepfather, Thomas Manzo’s prison time during his sentence had affected her. She says, “Don’t poke the bear,” meaning that for over a decade, she was too scared to stand up for herself. Thomas is 59 years old now, serving seven years for the conviction. He was convicted of plotting to kill the husband of Dina, David Cantin, back in 2015. Three years of supervised release made a hard part of Alexia’s life.
For Alexia, looking back at her time with Thomas, she says she went from silence into finding her voice. She discussed the emotional challenges of growing up with someone she now considers “complex and dangerous.” In her Substack post, she wrote openly about her fears, her loyalty to her family, and the difficult silence that she had to be in.
A Complicated Family Dynamic of Ioannu
Rewritten text purposefully: Alexia grew up with the second husband of her mother, Thomas and his brother Albert. It was the period when she witnessed the marriage of Thomas to her mother and finally the separation in the year two thousand and twelve. On the other hand, the marriage between Thomas and Dina was over in twenty sixteen and the following year, the latter married a man named, Cantin. This entangled web of relations strengthened the family bond, quite complex for Alexia, that she struggled on.
To this day, Alexia fondly recalls all the charms of Thomas who managed to win the hearts of relatives and friends thanks to, among other things, his munificence. She added, ‘To love Tommy was as natural as breathing’ in an obvious attempt to show how different her husband was behind closed doors, rather than in public. It was this duality of Thomas that made it difficult for her to differentiate between loyalty and fear, making her feel alone and suspicious of the family’s inner workings.
A Painful Journey to Freedom for Alexia
In her post, Alexia expressed the frustration she and her mother shared, describing her relationship with Thomas as a “partnership.” She used power and wealth to win, she wanted to make promises and instil fear at the same time.
She says she is often treated as a dowry, and things started to get worse for her after her mother left, now, Alexia says she’s ready to share her story and encourage others to speak up and come forward, but I’ll give my life back for courage, her followers and followers, “It’s time to tell the painful truth and openly heal.”
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