Shivangi Sinha
Paramount+’s ‘The Real Wolf of Wall Street’ explores the life of Jordan Belfort and the white-collar crimes that made him infamous. One of the most important chapters of his personal life, which the Oscar-winning film ‘The Wolf of Wall Street’ also heavily depicts, is his marriage to his second wife, Nadine Macaluso. Often referred to by the media as the Duchess of Bay Ridge, Nadine became closely associated with Belfort during the height of his success and notoriety. The series uses clips of Nadine reflecting on what the relationship was actually like behind closed doors and how she eventually recovered from that period of her life.
Nadine Macaluso Accused Her Ex-Husband of Infidelity and Abuse
Nadine Caridi was born in London, England, on December 24, 1967. She was still very young when her parents moved to Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, in New York, where she spent most of her childhood. She attended John Dewey High School and later enrolled in college, but she was pursuing different ambitions at the time and eventually dropped out. Nadine then began modeling and signed with the agency Elite Petite. She quickly landed major campaigns for brands such as Wrigley’s Gum, Miller Lite, and Seagram’s. Her dream was to become a full-time actress, and she had plans to move to Los Angeles, California. However, those goals changed when she met Jordan Belfort at a house party in Westhampton Beach, New York, in the early 1990s.
When they first met, Nadine was dating entrepreneur and former race car driver Alan Wilzig, while Jordan was reportedly still married to his first wife, Denise Lombardo. Nadine later said that after his divorce, Jordan began actively pursuing her and often showered her with gifts in an effort to win her over. In 1991, shortly after Jordan’s divorce was finalized, he and Nadine married in a lavish Caribbean wedding. Their romance quickly gained attention in the press, and Nadine was dubbed “Duchess of Bay Ridge.” Jordan even purchased a luxury yacht originally owned by Coco Chanel and renamed it Nadine in her honor. In July 1993, the couple welcomed their daughter, Chandler, and in August 1995, their son, Carter, was born.
In June 1996, the yacht that Jordan had purchased and named after Nadine sank off the east coast of Sardinia. While their marriage appeared glamorous and happy from the outside, Nadine has since painted a very different picture of life behind closed doors. She has said that she had to deal with her husband’s well-documented substance dependency issues and repeated infidelity throughout their relationship, both of which Jordan has publicly admitted in his memoirs. In addition, Nadine accused Jordan of domestic violence, claiming that he kicked her down a flight of stairs on one occasion — a physical altercation later also described in his autobiography. According to her, the marriage was effectively over by the late 1990s, even though their divorce was not officially finalized until 2005. She moved to California shortly afterward to begin a new chapter in her life.
Nadine Macaluso is Using Her Credentials to Help Others Today
After her separation from Jordan Belfort in the late 1990s and the finalization of their divorce in 2005, Nadine Macaluso gradually rebuilt her life on entirely different terms. Even before the marriage ended, she had launched a maternity clothing business, which she continued to run for a period after the divorce. However, as the years passed, she realized that her interests were shifting toward understanding relationships, trauma, and emotional healing. Nadine picked up where she had left off years earlier and returned to higher education. In 2008, she enrolled at Pacifica Graduate Institute and completed a Master’s degree in Counseling Psychology in 2010. Rather than stopping there, she continued her studies and pursued a Doctor of Philosophy in Somatic and Depth Psychology, which she completed in 2015.
During this period, she also underwent specialized training in the NeuroAffective Relational Model. While building her academic credentials, Nadine interned as a Marriage and Family Therapist at Manhattan Beach Community Counseling from 2011 to 2013, helping adults, couples, and adolescents navigate challenges such as anxiety, depression, trauma, relationship difficulties, and life transitions. In April 2013, she launched her own private practice and has since worked as a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist. Her expertise focuses on helping individuals and couples build healthier and more fulfilling relationships.
Over time, Nadine increasingly became a public voice on trauma bonding and narcissistic relationships. In 2022, she wrote a personal essay for Newsweek and participated in several interviews. In January 2024, she published her book, ‘Run Like Hell: A Therapist’s Guide to Recognizing, Escaping, and Healing from Trauma Bonds.’ Today, Nadine has a big and loud online presence. Through platforms such as Instagram and TikTok, she shares educational content about trauma recovery and also offers a 14-day healing program for people recovering from narcissistic relationships and trauma bonds. What began as a difficult reinvention after divorce has evolved into a career centered on helping others navigate the very challenges she once faced.
Nadine Macaluso is in a Supportive and Loving Marriage Today
In the early 2000s, after Nadine Macaluso had said that she had separated from Jordan Belfort, she met entrepreneur John Macaluso. The CEO of Wizard World Entertainment, John, was introduced to her through a blind date, and the connection quickly grew into something meaningful. In fact, it was because of her relationship with him that Nadine chose to move to California after her divorce was finalized. The two married soon afterward and have remained together for more than two decades. Over the years, they built a blended family that includes John’s three daughters from a previous marriage, Nadine’s two children, and their beloved dogs, Coco and Dolly.
Based in Hermosa Beach, California, Nadine has often described her marriage to John as a relationship built on love without control or manipulation. She has said that he has helped her to grow and thrive in ways she had not previously experienced. Today, she is also a proud grandmother. Her grandson Wes, the son of her daughter Chandler, holds a special place in her heart. Nadine has shared that her children have maintained a relationship with their father over the years. However, she herself is not on speaking terms with Jordan Belfort and has indicated that she prefers to keep it that way. Nadine now lives openly and confidently. She is using the voice and independence she worked hard to find.
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