Those of you who watched the TLC special of Nick Lachey and Vanessa Minnillo’s wedding know just how hard it was for the brunette beauty to walk down the aisle without her mother’s support. Vanessa, who generally keeps her emotions intact, broke down several times during the 2-hour special about how her mom abandoned her when she was eight and how they haven’t spoken in over 12 years.
Helen Bondoc, Vanessa’s mom, spoke to Star Magazine about the wedding – a wedding she didn’t even know was happening.
Bondoc lives in a trailer park in South Carolina and was visibly upset when Star showed her pics of her daughter’s wedding to Nick Lachey.
“Oh my goodness, she’s beautiful,” Helen, 57, told the mag, adding that she wasn’t invited to her daughter’s ceremony.
“She’s changed so much, though I can still see that little scar on her forehead from where she picked at her chicken pox when she was a child.
“I didn’t have a clue that Vanessa was getting married. We last spoke about 12 years ago, on the phone. I just wanted to talk to her and tell her everything straight about my life. But I still think about her all the time, and I still love her dearly.”
Vanessa spoke to Nick with cameras rolling about how her mother dropped her off with her father when she was just eight years old and said she wouldn’t be gone for long. Her mom never returned.
The former Miss Teen USA said she tried desperately to understand why a mother would abandon her children and felt “sad, confused and emotional” after her mom left.
As for the future, no one knows what will happen. Helen says she would love to one day meet her future grandchildren but isn’t sure Vanessa would be up for the gathering.
