A Domestic Violence Shooting Victim Shows Off a New Life on a Reality Show

Three years ago, Donna Paradise was a victim in the most terrible sense of the word. Years of abuse from her husband culminated in a horrible act of violence. In a fit of rage, Paradise's husband shot her in the head.

Miraculously, Donna Paradise not only survived, she eventually prospered. It was evident for everyone to see at Wednesday, where Paradise was celebrating her radiant transition from a victim to a survivor with a full makeover.

You can see it, too. That's because Paradise's makeover is being filmed for a new online reality show, "In The Chair."

“This is my first time ever acknowledging my situation, so coming into this I was very nervous,” Paradise said as the Mazza experts and production staffers fussed over her. “But the minute I walked in here – the kindness and the generosity of everyone here is just unreal."

"In The Chair" is the brainchild of professional stylist Stephen Marinaro, who was helping direct the activities for filming. Paradise met Marinaro through Joy Cutrone, who runs "In Her Shoes," a charity she founded that is devoted to raising money and awareness for survivors of domestic violence.

Paradise said she originally saw a sign advertising ‘In Her Shoes’ when she was at a pizzeria and “a light bulb went off” inside her head.

“The next day I went and spoke to Joy on the phone and it was the first time I ever spoke out about my situation,” Paradise said of Cutrone, a Colonia resident who was also crowned Mrs. Middlesex County in the Mrs. New Jersey beauty pageant. “After that, we just had a connection. She was nervous about confronting me and asking me to do this, but she said she never met anyone like me and she really wanted to do something nice for me.”

“When I first was approached for it, I was skeptical because I’m uncomfortable with how people react to my situation,” she continued. “But when I really talked to [Joy] and really sat down with her, I felt comfortable.”

Marinaro - known as "The Salon Guy" to his fans - said Paradise’s episode of “In The Chair” will premiere in mid-November on the website InTheChair.tv as part of his new web series. Each episode, he said, will feature someone who has had “a tragedy either in their life or at a past hair salon, and I want to turn that around and make it positive.”

“[Donna] has had some really tragic experiences in her life and she hasn’t been in a hair salon in 10 years due to her husband not letting her go have these experiences,” said Marinaro, who has been working in the fashion industry for over 20 years.

Marinaro said this episode of his new show is “very unique and very special because it’s a very touching topic” and is a special way to start off his web series.

“Donna is a domestic violence survivor and is lucky to be alive; this woman was shot in the head,” he said. “I want people to really connect with this – even people that are suffering from domestic violence and those types of situations. I want them to watch this and see that there is help and there is a way out, especially with the charity that Joy is doing. I really want people to watch this and walk away from it and say, ‘You know what, this is incredible.’”

Marinaro first worked with Vito Mazza, Jr. earlier this summer for a charity fashion show. The experience was positive Marinaro said he wanted to join with Mazza for this event because of his strong passion for charities.

“This was a story about a local woman, Donna, who had a tragic incident happen in her life, and [Stephen] wanted to really provide her with a salon and spa experience,” said Mazza, who began working for his family-owned business back in 1994. “He asked if I would be interested and I said, ‘Absolutely.’ That’s what we do; we’re about the community [and] giving back. We’re a very friendly, warm environment here and we have a great team and a great staff who loves to give back and make people not only look beautiful, but feel beautiful, as well.”

Paradise seemed awed by the entire experience. "The professionalism here is outstanding, the salon is so organized, [and] I’m very thankful to Stephen and Joy for involving me in this," she said.

After Paradise’s day at the spa, Marinaro said they were going to have the unveiling of her makeover in front of friends and family at in Woodbridge, where he said they were expecting up to 150 people at a special dinner celebration.

Paradise’s daughter, Gabriella, said at first she wasn’t sure how she felt about her mom being filmed for a reality show because she thought it would be difficult for her to talk about her history of domestic violence on camera. Once Gabriella found out more about the opportunity, though, she warmed up to the idea.

“When I found out more about it, I thought it was be such a great thing for her because when you face your fears, you overcome them,” she said. “She needed to move past it and she needed to realize that it happened and there’s nothing we can do about it but make the best out of it. And, as you can see, we’re making the best out of it.”

Gabriella, 18, said she’s happy for her mom because of all that she’s been through – some of which Gabriella said she has witnessed firsthand.

“What she’s been through is unbelievable and I don’t think anybody should ever have to go through it,” she said. “But that’s my mom and I know that she’s as strong as she is because she went through it.”

The one message that Gabriella said she hopes viewers will take away after hearing her mom’s story is to remember that there are more than just two people who are affected in domestic violence cases.

“When you’re in love with someone, it’s hard to get out of it,” Gabriella said. “But for people who are around [domestic violence], take into consideration that your kids are around it, and kids will never forget it. I grew up around it and I’ll never forget it."

Paradise, an area resident, said she hopes when people sees her episode of “In The Chair” that they are able to see the kindness and dedication that was given to her in the process of her makeover. The main piece of advice she wanted to give to people is “just to appreciate life and the people around you.”

“I think that’s really important, especially for our younger generation,” she said. “I really feel it’s important that kindness plays a factor in life.”