Born July 21st, 1969 in a small Italian Town called Ingham. Raised on a Sugar Cane farm outside of Ingham in a small village called Halifax. She was first a full time Army Reservist before being able to join the Australian Army at 17 and served for 8 years. She sustained severe knee injuries that ended her career and took several years to recover. Her acting started as part of her rehabilitation and therapy. She moved to Seattle where she studied Theatre with Meisner Teacher, Larry Silverberg. She unfortunately had a violent encounter that left her homeless for almost a year, but continued her studies. Manu is now known for her survival reality shows dating back from 2010. She is one of 5 children born to Giovanni Toigo and the late, Catherine Cranston who died in July 2019 at age 76.