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 brother's 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.

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 Pisces. Lauren regularly 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