Getty Actress Leah Remini and her husband actor Angelo Pagan arrives with a guest at the premiere of "The Back-up Plan" in Westwood, California, on April 21, 2010. AFP PHOTO / GABRIEL BOUYS (Photo credit should read GABRIEL BOUYS/AFP/Getty Images)
Leah Remini and her husband, Angelo Pagan, have been married for 16 years. The happy couple met at a Cuban restaurant and nightclub called El Floridita in the 1990s and the rest is pretty much history.
Remini’s television career started in the late 1980s. A couple of years after meeting Pagan, she landed a leading role on The King of Queens, a television series that was a breakthrough in her career. Pagan has also worked as an actor and has made appearances in a couple of his wife’s projects, including Kevin Can Wait and a TV comedy called Fired Up.
Remini and Pagan reside together in Studio City, California. The couple lives in a sprawling $8.5 million mansion with their only daughter, Sofia. Although, Pagan has kids from previous relationships – three sons. Together, Remini and Pagan have a net worth of $25 million, as estimated by Celebrity Net Worth.
Read on below for a rundown on the famous couple.
1. Leah Remini Married Her Husband In Las Vegas
Remini and Pagan met in 1996 at a Cuban restaurant and nightclub called El Floridita. In an interview conducted by the couple’s daughter for Redbook Magazine, Remini called their meeting “love at first sight.”
Remini and Pagan tied the knot on July 19, 2003. The ceremony was held poolside at the Four Seasons Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada, with dozens of guests in attendance on a hot summer evening.
“The bride was a vision of cool elegance in her Les Habitudes ivory gown. Everyone else was pretty much a vision of heat prostration as 125 guests gathered poolside at the Four Seasons Hotel in Las Vegas July 19 to watch King of Queens star Leah Remini, 33, marry actor/salsa musician Angelo Pagan, 45. ‘It was outdoors at night and still 110°,’ said King costar Kevin James, adding with a laugh, ‘The best part was toweling off,'” People reported in 2003.
According to the report from People, the wedding was officiated by a minister from Remini’s former Scientology center. Pagan credited Remini with making him a better father, while she credited her new husband with “giving her some soul,” an apparent reference to her salsa dancing lessons.
2. They Have Four Children
On June 16, 2004, Remini gave birth to her only daughter, Sofia Bella Pagan. Remini and Pagan have been so in love with their little girl and their close relationship was highlighted on their reality show, It’s All Relative.
Two years after leaving Scientology, Remini and Pagan had Sofia baptized. At the time, Sofia was 11 years old. “A very special day for our little girl and her Godparents @crabichuk wanted to share with all of you,” she wrote on Instagram. “#baptism #catholic #newbeginnings,” Remini captioned an Instagram photo.
“For the record @leahremini and I have always been Catholic … It was a beautiful experience and our little angel is on her way to a more spiritual existence. God Bless,” Pagan captioned a post of his own.
Remini is also a “bonus mom” to Pagan’s three sons, Nicholas, Alex, and Angelo Jr., from previous relationships.
3. Leah Remini and Her Husband Left Scientology in 2013
In 2013, Remini made the decision to leave the Church of Scientology after 30 years. Pagan also left Scientology, as did Remini’s mother, Vicki Marshall.
“I don’t regret what I’ve been through. I don’t regret spending my life there because it did really teach me a lot, and because we’ve all survived it and we’re living life, it’s like we have a gift of a second chance at life,” Remini told Dan Harris in a 20/20 interview that aired back in 2015. Pagan felt similarly about leaving Scientology behind. “Free at last free at last thank god almighty…,” Pagan tweeted around the same time as the 20/20 interview.
Remini went on to write a book about her experiences, detailing her life within the Church of Scientology. Troublemaker: Surviving Hollywood and Scientology was released on November 3, 2015. From there, Remini landed a television show on A&E, titled Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath. The show was a docuseries in which Remini worked to uncover hidden truths about Scientology and the people involved. The Season 3 finale aired on Monday, August 26, 2019.
4. Leah Remini’s Family Had Their Own Reality Show
Remini landed her own reality show called It’s All Relative in 2014. The show followed Remini and her family — including her husband, daughter, and her parents — as they navigated their day-to-day lives. The show was comedic, but also included serious situations at times, as the family dealt with many different ups and downs as the cameras rolled.
According to TLC, the show captured Remini’s life as she “[juggled her] career, her celebrity status and her family.” Remini and Pagan seemed to have a lot of fun together and shared great chemistry.
It’s All Relative was canceled in 2015 and the announcement came via Remini’s social media. Remini wrote, “On behalf of my family @georgemarshere @vikkimars50 @therealangelopagan @shannonfarrara @williamkilmartin @trish_the_nanny we want to thank you for welcoming us into your homes. It really meant the world to me that you embraced me, my family, my friends in the way that you did. We will not be returning for season 3; it just didn’t work out; we had 2 great seasons though. You never know, we might be back in some way, somewhere else… But for now, we will be sure to annoy you on social media. Thank you again from the bottom of our hearts -we will miss live tweeting with you every week. Thank you to discovery channels and our great crew! #grateful.”
Fun fact: Pagan actually sang the theme song for It’s All Relative.
5. Leah Remini and Jennifer Lopez’s Families Are Great Friends
Leah Remini and Angelo Pagan have a great friendship with Jennifer Lopez and previously were very friendly with Lopez’s ex-husband Marc Anthony as well. Though Lopez and Anthony are no longer together, they remain close and still co-parent their twins, Max and Emme. Lopez later moved on with Alex Rodriguez and the couple is now engaged.
In an interview with Oprah Magazine in June 2019, Remini opened up about how she became friends with Lopez. “I was friends with Marc Anthony and then he started dating Jennifer, and he was doing a film. I went to premiere and he said, ‘You have to meet Jennifer!’ And he was telling Jennifer, ‘You have to meet Leah and Angelo [Pagan],’ my husband,” Remini explained.
“We went to the premiere hoping she was gonna be ugly in real life. And then, when I was approaching her, I was like, ‘I hope it’s the lighting. Maybe she just looks good in here.’ And as I got closer I was like, ‘Oh damn, there’s a lot of light right here and she looks really pretty,” Remini said. She continued, “I even said that! I said, ‘Goddamnit, why the fuck why are you so fucking pretty?’ And she laughed. [Then] I was like, ‘Ugh, I hope she’s dumb, ya know? I was like, ‘She could be dumb!’ I wanted to find something and I didn’t.”
“And we fell in love right there. It was one of those instant chemistry things where you just feel like, ‘I love this person. I love being around this person. This person makes me laugh. She’s cool and we also have very similar upbringings. That’s why we work well together,” Lopez chimed in.
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