Before Alix Earle became the internet’s favourite “It” girl, her family was already making headlines for all the wrong reasons.
Her father, Thomas “TJ” Earle, a wealthy New Jersey construction magnate, was caught in an affair in 2008 that did not just break up a marriage. It connected the Earle family name to one of the most explosive political scandals in American history.
The woman at the centre of it all later became Alix’s stepmother. Her mother, Alisa Earle, handled betrayal with a level of grace that even Alix has publicly praised. And somehow, years later, all three of them now vacation together.
This is the full story of Alix Earle parents, the drama that defined her childhood, and how a family that was once plastered across tabloid front pages became what she calls her “modern family.”
Who Are Alix Earle’s parents?
Alix was born on December 16, 2000, in Monmouth County, New Jersey, to Thomas “TJ” Earle, a construction magnate in Wall Township, and Alisa Maniaci, who is of Italian descent. The two met at Lynn University in Boca Raton, Florida.
Thomas took over the family construction business after graduating, and describes himself as president of the Earle companies, which are primarily in highway civil contracting, construction materials, aggregates, environmental, and trucking. Alisa, meanwhile, became a stay-at-home mom.
By all accounts, they were a picture-perfect New Jersey family. Then 2008 happened.
The Affair That Changed Everything
In 2008, Alix’s father Thomas Earle was revealed to be having an affair with Ashley Dupré, the same woman who had made headlines for being linked to former New York Governor Eliot Spitzer through a major sex scandal.
To understand why this was such a massive deal, you need to know the Ashley Dupré backstory. Spitzer, referred to as “Client 9” in a federal court affidavit, had arranged to meet an escort known as “Kristen” at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington D.C. on February 13, 2008. That escort was later identified as Ashley Dupré. Following the public disclosure, Spitzer resigned as governor of New York.
So when it emerged that a New Jersey construction executive was romantically involved with the woman at the centre of that political earthquake, the press descended fast.
Alix was in second grade at the time. She said she had no idea what was actually happening. “Paparazzi had shown up at my house, and my mom quickly kind of got my sister and me out of the house over to our cousins,” she recalled on the Call Her Daddy podcast. “We stayed there for a few days, and I had no idea what was going on. I didn’t know they were paparazzi. I thought news broadcasters were interviewing the neighbours.”
She would not learn the full truth until a few years later. It was around fourth grade when Alix began piecing things together on her iPad. “I started to kind of hear commentary from people, and I had an iPad at the time,” she said. “I remember Googling my family and all of a sudden I see that the past two years of my life had been a lie.”
Alisa Earle: The Parent Who Held It Together
While TJ’s affair dominated headlines, it is Alisa Earle’s response that stands out most. Alix has said that her mother was “super, super mature” about everything and chose not to burden her daughters with the stress she was personally going through.
That was not a small thing. Not only did Alisa have to deal with her husband’s betrayal and the media scrutiny, but she also had to deal with judgmental parents in her community who reportedly denied their children playdates with the Earle girls because of the scandal.
Alix has been open about the emotional weight she carried alone during that period. She has said she ended up bottling a lot of it up because she did not want to add stress to anyone around her.
Today, Alisa has rebuilt her life on her own terms. She works with nonprofits and has since joined TikTok, where she has built a following of over 70,000 people. She appears regularly in Alix’s content, and the two clearly have a close, easy bond.
TJ and Ashley: From Scandal to Family
Thomas and Alisa officially divorced in 2011, and just two years later, TJ married Ashley Dupré in October 2013. The couple have since welcomed three children together: Izabel, Penelope, and Thomas.
As for Ashley Dupré herself, she opened a lingerie shop called Femme by Ashley following her Spitzer-related fallout and her relationship with TJ, though she later stepped back from the business to focus on family.
The relationship between Alix and her stepmother took time but grew into something genuinely warm. Alix told Elle that she and Ashley are “super close.” She recalled calling her father one day when she was overwhelmed by media attention, and his advice was to speak to Ashley about it. “She has dealt with this before, stuff in the media,” TJ told her. “It’s brought us closer because she’s able to guide me through it,” Alix said.
A Modern Family That Defies the Drama
What makes the Alix Earle parents’ story genuinely compelling is not the scandal itself. It is what came after.
Alix told Elle in August 2023: “We definitely have a very modern family. It’s normal for me to have my dad, my mom, and my stepmom all going on the same trips.” She added that she and Ashley have gotten to “such a good point” and that whatever happened in the past has been worked through as a family.
Alix has also reflected on how lucky she feels about the situation now. “Now that my family is so well blended and they get along so well, I get to do all these events in my life where it’s my mom, my dad, my little siblings, and my stepmom,” she said.
That is not something every family manages after a very public unravelling. And it is arguably one of the most human, relatable parts of Alix Earle’s story. She is not just a girl who went viral for her Get Ready With Me videos. She is someone who grew up quietly, carrying a complicated family history, googled the truth on an iPad in fourth grade, and somehow came out the other side with everyone sitting at the same dinner table.
That is the real story behind Alix Earle parents. And it is far more interesting than any makeup tutorial.
