See the 'Jersey Shore' Cast Then and Now — From Seaside to 'Family Vacation'
Who got a glow up? Who went to jail? And who's finally coming back for 'Family Vacation?'
Like it or not, MTV's Jersey Shore was a cultural moment. (And based on ratings still today, most people liked it than are willing to admit.)
Related: Snooki Reveals Her Favorite Things
Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi, Mike "The Situation" Sorrentino, Paul "DJ Pauly D" DelVecchio, Jenni "JWoww" Farley, Vinny Guadagnino, Angelina Pivarnick, Deena Nicole Cortese and the most toxic reality TV couple of all time, Ronnie Ortiz Magro and Samantha "Sammi Sweetheart" Giancola, became household names synonymous with being tan, tipsy T-shirt sellers.
Related: How Much Did the Cast of Jersey Shore Make on the Show?
In an age when nostalgia is bigger than ever, let's take a walk down memory lane (via the Seaside Heights boardwalk) to look back at the Jersey Shore cast in their first seasons—then get caught up on what they're all up to today to celebrate one particular cast member's return to Jersey Shore: Family Vacation.
MTV's Jersey Shore cast, left to right,in 2009: Ronnie Ortiz-Magro, Vinny Guadagnino, Jenni "JWoww" Farley, Samantha "Sammi Sweetheart" Giancola, Mike "The Situation" Sorrentino, Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi and Paul "DJ Pauly D" DelVecchio show off the results of their GTL lifestyle at Seaside Heights.
MTV
Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi quickly became one of Jersey Shore's breakout stars thanks to her hard-partying antics and self-aware sense of humor. She went on to be one of the most popular Halloween costumes for 2010 (her signature poof and faux tan were iconic) and her storylines on the show were often quite dramatic: We saw her looking for love, drinking on the job and getting into trouble, including getting punched at a bar and arrested twice—as well as her pregnancy with her first child, after which she clearly had to clean up her act.
Snooki proved she is one smart businesswoman, successfully capitalizing on her reality fame in numerous ventures, including a spinoff (Snooki & JWOWW), a stint on Dancing With the Stars, a podcast, retail shores, a wine brand, several books and countless sponsorships.
She's married to Jionni LaValle, a relationship the world saw begin on Jersey Shore, and is a mother of three.
Vinny Guadagnino had the wiggliest eyebrows on the East Coast. The Staten Island native intended to go to law school before landing on Jersey Shore, where he was most famous for having on-and-off-again hookups with Snooki, as well as for being a huge mama's boy and clogging the house toilet with his size small tanktop.
Vinny Guadagnino pursued acting following Jersey Shore and continued working in TV and entertainment. He hosted The Show With Vinny, starred in Vinny & Ma Eat America on The Cooking Channel, starred in SyFy original movie Jersey Shore Shark Attack and competed on The Masked Dancer as Hammerhead and Season 31 of Dancing With the Stars.
Vinny is an advocate of the keto diet and wrote The Keto Guido cookbook. After suffering from severe anxiety during his time on the original Jersey Shore run, he became an anti-bullying advocate and co-authored Control The Crazy: My Plan To Stop Stressing, Avoid Drama, and Maintain Inner Cool.
Deena Nicole Cortese was Snooki's cheery fellow meatball from Season 3 on. Deena actually auditioned for Season 1 but got rejected, and Snooki suggested she replace Angelina after Angelina packed up her trashbags for the final time.
Deena quickly became a fan favorite for her positive attitude and raucous antics with Snooki. The pint-sized duo are affectionately called "Meatballs."
These days, Deena is married to Chris Buckner, with whom she shares sons Christopher John "CJ" Buckner and Cameron Theo Buckner.
Ronnie Ortiz-Magro dated Sammi Sweetheart for seven years off and on and cheated on her left and right (and threw her property around when he was mad at her). Somehow, The Situation was often blamed for the couple's problems.
(Incidentally, Ronnie got into several physical altercations during his tenure on Jersey Shore, including one with Sitch.)
Ronnie and Sammi split for good in 2016.
In 2018, he and then-girlfriend Jenn Harley welcomed a daughter, Ariana Sky Magro. For the next 18 months, he and Harley would each be arrested for domestic violence, and Ronnie went to rehab for depression and alcohol abuse.
Ronnie began dating Saffire Matos in 2020, and in April 2021 was arrested for felony domestic violence—while he was still on probation for a prior domestic violence charge from his relationship with Harley. That June, he and Saffire got engaged, but they called it quits a year later before marrying.
A source close to Ronnie told PEOPLE, "He's in good spirits and dealing with it one day at a time. He continues to focus on his health, sobriety and the well-being of his daughter."
In 2023, it was reported that Ronnie and Jenn Harley were back together. Thoughts and prayers for Ariana.
Samantha "Sammi Sweetheart" Giancola began her time on Jersey Shore getting cozy with Sitch, but quickly dropped him in favor of a toxic on-again-off-again relationship with Ronnie that drove everyone else in the house bananas.
Sammi leveraged her Jersey Shore fame to launch a fragrance and a clothing line called Sweetheart Styles. From 2015 to 2017, she co-hosted a podcast called Just Sayin with Siggy Flicker and Clare Galterio.
She declined to join Jersey Shore: Family Vacation. She explained on Instagram, "I have chosen not to join the show this season because I am at a completely different place in my life right now focusing on my businesses and relationship. I am not the same person as I was when I was 22. At 31, I am currently extremely happy in every aspect of my life and want to avoid potentially TOXIC SITUATIONS."
"However, it was a difficult decision as I love my roomies. I've decided to focus on me, my future and what truly makes me happy," she added. "I will forever be grateful to 'Jersey Shore' and everything it has brought to me! I've just decided to live my life for me these days. Also I am forever grateful & thankful for all of you!!! Special shoutout to my fans, but I'm not going anywhere! Follow me and stay tuned, you never know what I could be up to NEXT!"
In one particularly enlightening early episode of Jersey Shore: Family Vacation, the roommates discussed Sammi's absence, with Deena mentioning that Ronnie, at one point, kept calling Sammi from blocked numbers. That's harassment, kids.
In March 2023, it was revealed that Sammi will be back on Jersey Shore: Family Vacation—likely because it appears that Ronnie may be gone from the show for good.
DJ Pauly D brought the least drama and the most laughs to Jersey Shore. He got along with pretty much everyone (save Angelina) and had the most catchphrases (i.e., "Cabs are he-yah!")
DJ Pauly D was the first Jersey Shore castmember to get a spinoff, The Pauly D Project. He's an in-demand DJ and performer and even opened for Britney Spears on her Femme Fatale tour.
Pauly met Aubrey O'Day when they were each starring in the reality show Famously Single in 2016, and they went on to appear on Marriage Bootcamp: Reality Stars together. Their romance didn't last and they split in 2018. He's since starred in two reality dating shows, Game of Clones (in which he searched for a Megan Fox look-alike to love) and Double Shot at Love with Vinny.
Angelina Pivarnick dubbed herself the "Kim Kardashian of Staten Island," which is hilarious when you consider that the actual Kim Kardashian spent time there when she dated Pete Davidson. In any case, Angelina's nickname should be "The Angel of the Jersey Shore," because she brought endless drama to the show in her brief tenure before getting fired from the T-shirt shop in Season 1 and fighting with Snooki and Snitch in Italy in Season 2. (Seriously, it takes a divine level of talent to get Pauly mad at you. Angelina, you're perfect.)
In 2011, she appeared on the dating show Excused. She became a Jersey Shore: Family Vacation castmember in 2019 after guesting on the show the previous year.
Angelina is a licensed EMT in Staten Island and sued an FDNY lieutenant for alleged sexual harassment and misconduct. They settled out of court in 2020.
Angelina got engaged to Chris Larangeira in 2018 after dating for a year. They married on Nov. 20, 2019, and she got quite mad at her castmates for the toast they gave her on the big day. She and Larangeira divorced in 2022.
The best cook of the Jersey Shore cast, Mike "The Situation" Sorrentino was another breakout star thanks to his abs and his ego. His hookups and blowups were equally frequent.
The Situation's life has been a rollercoaster since his time on Jersey Shore, but he's been doing quite well in recent years.
In 2012, Sitch went to rehab for oxycodone addiction. He's been sober since December 2015.
In 2014, Sitch found himself in a tricky legal Situation when he was charged with tax fraud, with further charges being revealed in April 2017. In 2018, Sitch pleaded guilty to one count of tax evasion and was sentenced to eight months in prison, 500 hours of community service and two years of supervised probation. He was released from prison in September 2019.
Sitch married his college sweetheart Lauren Pesce on Nov. 1, 2018. They welcomed a son in May 2021 and a daughter in January 2023.
Jenni "JWoww" Farley became a fan-favorite right away. Her smoker's voice, beauty and quasi-mom energy with Snooki and Deena made her an instant star—and her relationships with Tom and Roger made for great TV.
Also? The girl packs a serious punch. Literally. Ask Sitch.
JWoww starred in spinoff shows with Snooki and has been a fixture in entertainment since her Seaside days. She married Roger Matthews in 2015, and they share a son and daughter. Jenni filed for divorce from Matthews in September 2018, and before it was finalized, her other ex, Tom Lippolis, was arrested and charged with trying to extort money from her.
In 2019, JWoww began dating professional wrestler Zack Clayton Carpinello, who she nicknamed "24" since that was his age when they started hooking up. They got engaged in February 2021.
Next, find out fellow beach icon Pamela Anderson's net worth.