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The RHOBH star loves her son and respects his wishes to remain out of the spotlight.
By Maria Lianos-Carbone — Written on Apr 08, 2020
When people sign up to be on a reality TV show, it comes with sacrificing your privacy. Your body, clothing and entire life will be on display, along with your family. After all, aren’t they seeking attention and fame that goes along with becoming a reality TV star? Perhaps. But they want their family off-limits. Reality TV stars expect scrutiny and rude comments hurled towards them. But they can get riled up when crude remarks are made towards their family members, especially their children.
There are trolls who love to watch shows such as the Real Housewives franchise and then make rude comments on social media from the comfort of behind their computers. Erika Girardi who goes by the stage name, Erika Jayne, of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills fired back after a troll made a distasteful comment suggesting her son should be shot. The 47-year-old Bravo star shared a screenshot of the tweet on Feb. 27, 2019 via Instagram, writing "This is disgusting."
Who is Erika Jayne’s son, Tommy Zizzo?
He has a good head on his shoulders.
"I’m a good mom. I hate saying I’m a cool mom, because it sounds like Mean Girls, but I am a laidback mom and a very accepting one. Fortunately for me, he has great taste in women. He picks good girls," she said in 2018. "He would never bring someone home that was insane. I mean, or else we’d have to have a talk about it."
He’s a police officer.
Jayne always knew her son Tommy was destined for a life in blue.
"It's a dangerous profession. I've known my son was going to be in law enforcement from the time he could walk and talk." Jayne said. "That's all he's ever wanted and that's kind of your role as a parent is to honor who your children really are."
Tommy graduated from LAPD Academy and was a former explorer at the Jersey City Police Activity League Official. On Nov. 10, 2014, Jersey City had tweeted congratulating Tommy for graduating from LAPD.
He lives at home.
While Jayne is tight-lipped about Tommy, she revealed that he lives with her and her husband Tom Girardi in Pasadena. Erika explained why her son is so camera shy.
"He has a different profession, babe," she told Andy Cohen. "He's a real police officer in the streets."
During season 7 of RHOBH, which aired in 2017, the “XXpen$ive” singer broke down in tears while discussing her son’s profession, admitting that she worries about him every time he leaves the house. So what does Tommy think of his mom living her life in the limelight?
"He loves his mom," she gushed. When Andy Cohen asked Jayne if she and her son are close and how many times a week they speak, she shared a real revelation. "What are you talking about?" Jayne said. "He lives with me. That's my baby."
He prefers to stay off camera.
"It's not weird [that people are interested in him]," she said. "I'm sure that they're curious because the only thing that they see is this thing. But I am a mother. My son does live with me. He is a police officer and he will remain off camera."
When Erika was interviewed by Megyn Kelly in 2018, she reiterated that Tommy doesn’t care to appear on RHOBH. "Not everybody wants to be on TV — believe it or not," she said.
"I know that sounds crazy. But, he's in a dangerous line of work and he prefers his anonymity as much as possible and I agree with that."
She had him when she was young.
Jayne was only 20-years-old when she gave birth to her son Tommy Zizzo with her then-husband Thomas Zizzo. Erika and her then-husband Thomas had married in December 1991 at St. Patrick’s Cathedral.
Jayne and Zizzo split when her son was a few years old. Jayne later married Thomas Girardi in 1999. Yes, there are a lot of Tommy’s in Jayne’s life!
He enjoys being home with mom.
Jayne has openly expressed enjoying having her son living with him.
"I actually love having my son there. He's free security, OK?" she said. "Free security and he never lets me forget it. But, you know, Tom's very busy and travels all the time. I travel all the time, and my son is super busy. So it's nice. We have a really big house, so it's nice to have him there. And it's nice; listen, let me be very honest, I worry about my boy as I'm sure everyone whose family member is in law enforcement or in the military [is], OK? It's nice to hear him come home. It's nice to hear him come off duty and I can see his car in the driveway or I hear him walk up the steps. To me, I sleep a little better at night just knowing that I know where he is."
Maria Lianos-Carbone is author of "Oh Baby! A Mom's Self-Care Survival Guide for the First Year" and publisher of amotherworld.com.
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