Caroline Manzo's daughter got some air time when her mom starred on The Real Housewives
of New Jersey, and then again when the family landed their reality spin-off show, Manzo'd
with Children.
But there's more to this reality TV princess than what was caught on camera.
We're revealing the truth about Lauren Manzo Scalia.
Lauren was born in 1988 to former Real Housewives of New Jersey star Caroline Manzo and her
husband Albert.
And although they may not have been the wealthiest family to appear in the Bravo franchise, the
Manzos seemed to be doing just fine for themselves prior to their debut on the series.
The family built their livelihood on their swanky event and catering facility, The Brownstone.
"You know your brothers will always be there for you.
And if you aren't there for eachother, I will kill you."
While the Manzos appeared to have deep enough pockets to provide a pretty nice childhood
for their three kids, money couldn't buy confidence when it came to Lauren's insecurities over
her weight.
She shared her attempts to diet and exercise on The Real Housewives of New Jersey, but
having a camera shoved in her face couldn't have helped Lauren's self-image.
She told Us Weekly at the time,
"It's hard seeing yourself on TV.
The camera doesn't add 10 pounds, it adds 800 pounds!"
"It's just like no matter how much weight I wanna lose, I'll never feel good about the
way that I look."
Lauren also told the outlet that she eventually got to the point where she was, quote, "depressed"
and "hated" herself.
But after seeking out help, she was thankfully able to turn things around.
In 2011, Lauren underwent lap band surgery, where a silicone band is placed around the
top of the stomach to help control food consumption.
It wasn't surprising that her parents were supportive of the idea, considering her dad
had the same procedure done in 2008.
Lauren, who was 185 pounds at the time of her surgery, originally wanted to stay quiet
about how she lost the weight, but she says coming clean was ultimately the best decision.
She told Us Weekly,
"I've gotten such a great response.
It's worth it."
While fans seemed to rally around Lauren's new body and confidence, not everyone was
supportive of the cause.
Real Housewives of New Jersey costar Teresa Giudice told Us Weekly,
"Lauren has all the time in the world to work out.
She took the easy way out."
"I mean, listen, it's definitely easier now for me to lose weight, than it ever was, but
at the same time I don't care what anybody has to say to me."
Fortunately, Lauren didn't let Teresa's comments get to her.
Instead, she told the outlet,
"Getting the lap band was the best decision of my life."
It's no surprise that all three of the Manzo kids opened their own businesses after growing
up in a house with parent entrepreneurs.
Brothers Albie and Chris have opened multiple restaurants in Hoboken, and Lauren opened
her very first business, a beauty bar called Cafface, in the ritzy Franklin Lakes area
of New Jersey in 2012.
"I've said for years that I wanna go to beauty school."
She later transformed Cafface into a blowout bar, telling 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."
"I don't want you to just do makeup.
OK?
If you're gonna get a license and you're gonna do makeup, I want you to own a spa one day.
I want you to own a salon one day."
Clients loved the beauty bar concept.
Then, Lauren announced on Instagram in 2015 that she was opening a second location, calling
it Full Blown.
And it looks like business is going very well.
According to Celebrity Net Worth, Lauren's taking roughly $1 million to the bank.
She told OMJ,
"I love the energy of a big salon, but I think the customers are really enjoying coming into
a nice, small boutiquey salon."
Lauren met her future hubby, Vito Scalia, when he was living with her brother Albie
in the same dorm at Fordham University.
Lauren told the Daily Dish,
"Al knocked on Vito's door and Vito literally rolls off the top bunk.
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."
"In the beginning of my relationship with Vito, I did feel guilt for dating my brother's
best friend.
But I've honestly never been so happy in my whole life."
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 two years later, in July 2015, at surprise, surprise, The Brownstone.
A year after Lauren and Vito got married, 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 out.
After moving into their new place, Lauren told the Daily Dish,
"I'm surprised at how much of a neat freak I am, although it's only been a couple weeks."
Caroline also acknowledged the change in her daughter, adding,
"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."
But Lauren did need a little extra help from her mom in one department.
She admitted,
"I'm not very good at decorating, so I'm kind of just like [to my mom], decorate [and] do
whatever you want."
Once a husband and home were checked off the list, the next obvious step was to add a baby
into the mix.
"I'm gonna be a grandma!
Wooo!"
But, prior to her daughter's birth, Lauren was worried about what her baby's zodiac sign
would be.
She told the Daily Dish at the time,
"I'm due February 26th, and [there are] 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 are] a couple Pisces I know, that I can't stand."
"I think I'll be ok with a Pisces baby."
Lauren announced the arrival of her beautiful Pisces daughter, Marchesa, nicknamed "Markie",
on Instagram in February 2017.
While she, and grandma Caroline, regularly share updates about little Markie on social
media, Lauren told People magazine,
"I always said if I ever had a girl I would name her Marchesa…I always loved the name
Marchesa, no, not named after the designer, but obviously [that's] where I heard the name
first and fell in love with it."
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