Angela Raiola, Big Ang
Angela Raiola arrives to the premiere of her VH1 reality show “Big Ang” on Sunday, July 8, 2012 in New York.
“Mob Wives” star Angela Raiola, better known as Big Ang, is dead after a battle with stage 4 cancer. She was 55.
Her rep announced early Thursday morning that the reality TV personality died at a Manhattan hospital at 3:01 a.m., surrounded by close friends and family members. She was diagnosed with throat cancer in April and had a tumor removed from her throat, but learned in December it had returned and spread to her brain and lungs.
“YOU, (Her fans) were some of the most special people in her world, and she loved you immensely. Thank you for your prayers, and unconditional support of Angela right to the very end,” her friend Vinnie Medugno wrote on Raiola’s official Twitter account.
“In typical Big Ang fashion, we know she would say ‘Love you my babies!'”
According to the New York Daily News, Raiola was the niece of a reputed captain of the Genovese crime family. She had her own VH1 TV series, “Big Ang,” and chronicled her health struggles on “Mob Wives,” which is currently in its final season.
The lifelong smoker quit after she was first diagnosed with cancer and urged supporters to quit smoking and/or resist ever starting.
