The Real Truth About Alix Earle's Parents Is Turning Heads
If you know Alix Earle, you know her parents. But have you heard the backstory on the affair? The divorce? Or the celebrity-grade mistress? Here's the truth about Alisa Maniaci and Thomas "TJ" Earle.
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00:00If you know Alex Earle, you know her parents. But have you heard the backstory on the affair?
00:06The divorce? Or the celebrity-grade mistress?
00:09Here's the truth about Alyssa Maniaci and Thomas T.J. Earle.
00:14Soon after they graduated from Lynn University in Florida, where they met,
00:18Thomas and Alyssa said,
00:19"...I do."
00:20They quickly became parents, with Alex arriving just before Christmas in 2000,
00:24and Ashton three years later. As a friend of Thomas once told the New York Post,
00:29The second he laid eyes on Alyssa, those wild days were over. He was infatuated with Alyssa
00:35the second they met. The pair celebrated every wedding anniversary at the Gramercy Hotel in New
00:40York. Unfortunately, this was also the same place where their marriage would come crashing down.
00:46Thomas found himself at the center of a tabloid scandal in 2008 when his extramarital affair was
00:51made public. And the woman he was seeing was no stranger to making headlines. Earlier that
00:56same year, Ashley Dupre was named as the escort that Eliot Spitzer, then the governor of New York,
01:02had used taxpayers' money to hire. Following an FBI investigation, Spitzer resigned from his post
01:08and was hit with divorce papers from his wife. Thomas Earle's private life was also raked over
01:13the coals once the New York Post reported that he had stepped out with Dupre at the Gramercy Hotel.
01:19Earle's attorney said in a statement,
01:21"[T.J.] made a grave mistake. He's very, very sorry for what happened,
01:25and he's trying to work through this privately."
01:28Although she wasn't aware of the details at the time, Alex recalled her family's private
01:32lives being upended. She shared on Alex Cooper's Call Her Daddy podcast that her mom fled their
01:38home with both kids to avoid the paparazzi.
01:41I had no idea what was going on. I didn't know they were paparazzi. I thought
01:45news broadcasters were interviewing the neighbors."
01:48Thomas and Alyssa called it quits in 2008, but it wasn't a cut-and-clear split. They
01:53officially divorced three years later, choosing to keep the reason a secret from their young
01:58daughters for a similar length of time. Alex revealed that as a second grader,
02:02she was shielded from the tabloids.
02:04I didn't know the severity of what had happened between my parents because my mom was
02:09super, super mature about it and didn't speak to us about it."
02:13Alex eventually found out about her father's affair in fourth grade while surfing the web.
02:18I'm Googling my family, and all of a sudden I see that the past two years of my life had
02:22been a lie."
02:24Not only did Alyssa Earle have to deal with her private betrayal going public,
02:27she also had to deal with the judgment of other parents. Alex revealed on Call Her Daddy
02:33that she was often denied hangs with friends due to the concerns of her friends' families.
02:38Then she would have to sit me down and be like, you know, they don't really respect us."
02:43When asked how she felt about the type of honesty coming from her mom,
02:47Alex explained,
02:48I feel bad for her, but I feel like I wish I had someone to kind of lean on in that moment."
02:56Thomas didn't waste any time in getting hitched again after divorcing Alyssa in 2011. Just two
03:02years later, he walked down the aisle with his former mistress, Ashley Dupre. Since then, the
03:07couple have welcomed three children into the world — Isabelle, Penelope, and Thomas. Social
03:12media followers of Alex may have spotted all three in the influencers' videos over the years,
03:16with the kids regularly popping up as part of any New Jersey visit.
03:20And it seems as though Isabelle shares her oldest half-sister's natural sass.
03:25You guys might see her get ready with me, but I see the behind the scenes,
03:29and it's a hot mess."
03:30Penelope, meanwhile, has revealed ambitions to move to Miami with Alex when she's older.
03:35Little Thomas is just happy that Alex likes playing with toys.
03:38I love just hanging out with my family and bantering with them, having dinner."
03:44Although they split in dramatic fashion, exes Thomas and Alyssa appear to have found a path
03:49forward that includes the whole family. As Alex shared with Elle,
03:52We definitely have a very modern family. It's normal for me to have my dad,
03:57my mom, and my stepmom all going on the same trips. This can include everything from dinner
04:02in the Hamptons to nights out in the Big Apple. Alex also revealed how lucky she feels about the
04:07whole situation on Call Her Daddy.
04:09Having my mom around with my dad, like, it's just,
04:13that feeling is, like, the best feeling in the entire world."
04:17These days, Alyssa Earle has thrown herself into various charitable endeavors.
04:21But just like the rest of her family, she has also found time to join social media.
04:26Does your burst get ready with me?
04:28Yes.
04:29Okay.
04:30Welcome.
04:31Thanks to sharing screen time with Alex, while enjoying vacations,
04:35sleepovers, and dance routines together, she amassed a TikTok following of more than 70,000
04:40fans. Luckily, these days, it sounds like the family vibe is a happy one.
04:45Alex got her craziness, her kindness,
04:48and her energy for having fun from me, and all the other good stuff from her dad.