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RHONJ’s Lauren Manzo Claps Back at Troll Criticizing Weight Loss: ‘I’m Just Confused’
Real Housewives of New Jersey alum Lauren Manzo clapped back at a troll who criticized her for losing weight.
The drama began when Lauren, 35, took to TikTok to discuss her lack of an appetite while dealing with a sinus infection. Shortly after she shared the video, one fan rushed to the comments section to claim that she looked unrecognizable amid her weight loss journey. “Oh crap I didn’t know who this was. Sad…” the troll wrote.
Caroline Manzo’s daughter saw the comment and didn’t let the social media user get away with the hateful sentiment. “What’s sad? Like, is it sad that I’m finally at a healthy weight?” she asked in a follow-up video. “I’m just confused.”
Lauren added that she was “so sick of these comments” about her thinner frame and said that the backlash made “no sense” to her. “I’m 5 foot, 3 inches and 115 pounds. The only thing I need to do to make myself healthier is build muscle,” the former Bravo star said. “Which I admit I’m too lazy to do.”
She then pointed out that people wouldn’t have a problem with her current size if they had never seen her when she was bigger. “I don’t look sick. I even gained a couple pounds, and as long as I feel good, I’m OK,” Lauren continued. “I’m fine. This isn’t sad. I just ate a ciabatta sandwich with a bunch of deli meat on it, a load of mayonnaise and Fritos. I’m fine.”
The TikTok video isn’t the first time Lauren has opened up about her body image, and she previously admitted that watching herself on TV had a negative impact on how she viewed her figure. “It’s hard seeing yourself on TV. The camera doesn’t add 10 pounds, it adds 800 pounds!” she told Us Weekly in 2012.
After struggling with her weight for years and participating in several diet fads, Lauren had a lap band surgery to help her lose weight. “When I first got it, I didn’t want to tell anybody. So many fans related to my struggle, I didn’t want to feel like I was letting them down,” she said about the procedure. “I’ve gotten such a great response. It’s worth it.”
However, Caroline, 62, revealed that Lauren had to have the lap band removed during an emergency surgery because it had become “all twisted.”
“Then she goes and gets the sleeve, which I was so against because she’s got half a stomach now. … I have never seen somebody work so hard to try and be healthy than this kid right here,” Caroline said while appearing on Page Six’s “Virtual Reali-Tea” podcast in May 2023.
After plenty of trial and error, Lauren successfully lost 30 pounds by using the diabetes drug Mounjaro.
