Frank and Lauren Cleri shocked “Moment of Truth” viewers this week when the 26-year-old wife admitted to cheating on her husband and said she’d rather be married to her ex-boyfriend. The Post sat down with the surprisingly amicable couple this week to find out more on their rocky relationship.
The couple, who married after dating for eight months, admits that if they’d won the cash prize (she lost after being asked if she thought she was a good person), their problems wouldn’t have been fixed.
“The money wouldn’t have bought us happiness. We’d still be in the same situation — except our bills would be paid and my boobs would be bigger,” Lauren said in an exclusive interview with The Post from their Pierpont, N.J., apartment, where they both still live together.
The couple watched the show Monday night with the rest of America, while eating pizza and drinking beer.
“I had to keep looking away, it was painful,” Lauren said. “We had just gone through it all and then we had to face it all over again.”
“It was the longest hour,” Frank said. “To live through it all over again, it was tough.”
PHOTOS: Lauren and Frank after the show Lauren, 26, and Frank, 24, married two years ago after a quick, 8-month courtship. She’s an aspiring actress who works part-time at a hair salon. He’s a rookie cop of the NYPD. The couple eloped a month after they were engaged and were married by a justice of the peace.
“We were young, dumb and in love,” Frank said.
The couple wound up on Fox’s “Moment of Truth” when Laura was called by a casting agent for the show.
“I spent hours and hours on the phone at night with the producers — at this point, they know me better than anybody does.”
Despite the scandalous revelations on the show, the couple is still friendly and both wear their wedding rings. After the interview, they left together to see an accountant to do their taxes.
However, even though she wants to make the marriage work, he doesn’t sound too optimistic.
“It’s a lot to go through, it’s a lot to get over and I don’t know if I can. It’s a lot of emotional pain, and it’s not going to go away in a week, or a month,” he said.
But, he added, he hopes to maintain some semblance of a friendship with his wife, saying, “I’m still going to be here for her, regardless.”
One interesting tidbit — Frank already knew about Lauren’s affairs before the show aired, which is partly why they’re so at ease with each other now, even changing friendly barbs.
“You have to laugh, at this point,” said Frank. “We’ve already done a lot of crying and fighting.”
She joked: “Right now, we’re keeping the sharp objects hidden.”
Cracked Frank, “I mean, why couldn’t she have gone on ‘Deal or No Deal’? All she’d have had to do was pick a number.”
The couple has had problems for at least a year, but had kept it from their families.
“There was nothing revealed on the show about our relationship that we hadn’t already put on the table; we’ve been having problems for a year, there’s already been a lot of talking and confessions and hurt. But we didn’t really discuss it with our families.”
“That’s the hardest part,” Lauren said. “It’s hard for our families and friends. I haven’t been able to really concentrate since the show. I just keep thinking about Frank’s family and his friends, and my family.”
Both of them were surprised that Lauren’s ex, also named Frank, was brought on the show as a surprise guest.
“I saw him walk out, and I turned to Lauren’s dad and said, ‘Who’s that?'” recalled Frank, who was at the show taping with his in-laws. “Then I heard Lauren’s sister say who it was, and I was like, ‘Holy — I couldn’t believe it and I didn’t want to be there anymore.”
Lauren said she was equally stunned. “From the minute he was introduced, I don’t remember anything. My mind went blank, I don’t remember talking or answering questions. Nothing. From that point on, it’s all a blur.”
Still, Lauren said she doesn’t regret doing the show. “Because I’m the type who learns from my mistakes. But would I do it again? No. I keep hoping some other couple goes on the show and tops us, but I don’t really want that, either. Nobody should go through this, it’s a lot of pain, hurt and heartbreak for everyone involved.”
“I truly, honestly believe I am a good person,” she said. “I’m not a murderer, I’m not a serial killer. I don’t try to hurt people. I learn from my mistakes and I don’t make them again.”
Of having endured the public humiliation only to lose the cash, Frank cracked, “Yeah, ain’t that a kick?”