What happened to the cast of “Jersey Shore”? See MTV's infamous boardwalk dwellers, then and now
What happened to the cast of “Jersey Shore”? See MTV's infamous boardwalk dwellers, then and now
Andrew WalshThu, May 7, 2026 at 3:52 PM UTC
0
Credit: getty (2)
It's not hard to find debauched reality shows about hard-partying youngsters, but Jersey Shore introduced the world to a different kind of reveler when it crashed onto MTV in 2009.
In the 17 years since its debut, fans have watched its tanned cast fight, fall in love, become parents, and even go to jail, oftentimes on its spinoff Jersey Shore: Family Vacation, which debuted in 2018.
With its ninth and final season on deck, now's as good a time as any to see what Snooki, The Situation, Paulie D, Ron-Ron, and the rest of the housemates have been up to all these years.
01 of 09
Mike “The Situation” Sorrentino
Credit: getty (2)
A former fitness model, “The Situation” — a.k.a. the nickname Mike Sorrentino uses for his trademark abs — sauntered his way into the living rooms of MTV viewers everywhere, stirring up trouble both on and off-screen. He remained on the show for all six seasons of the original series.
Post-Seaside Heights, he continued to show off his six-pack on reality shows like Marriage Boot Camp: Reality Stars, Marriage Boot Camp: Reality Stars Family Edition, and his own short-lived spinoff, The Sorrentinos.
He also placed ninth on season 11 of Dancing With the Stars; fourth on season 10 of Celebrity Big Brother; and fourth on season 9 of Worst Cooks in America. Sorrentino reunited with his Jersey Shore castmates in 2018 for the series reboot, Jersey Shore: Family Vacation.
Off-camera, Sorrentino has been through several personal and legal struggles. He entered rehab in 2012 for an addiction to prescription medication and will celebrate his 10-year sober-versary on the final season of Family Vacation.
Along with his brother and manager Marc, he was charged with tax fraud in 2014, and in 2018 pleaded guilty to one count of tax evasion. The Situation served eight months in federal prison from January to September 2019.
Prior to his stint in jail, he married his longtime girlfriend Lauren Pesce. The couple share three children: a son named Romeo and two daughters named Mia and Luna.
02 of 09
Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi
Credit: getty (2)
A fan favorite, the tiny firecracker known as Snooki has been busy curating a brand since she was last "snookin' for love" at the shore. She has released three books (A Shore Thing, Confessions of a Guidette,Gorilla Beach), a fashion line, nail polish, and perfume.
Aside from those untelevised ventures, the reality star also known as Nicole Polizzi has managed to remain a TV fixture. She’s made cameos in several scripted productions, including The Three Stooges (2012), Movie 43 (2013), and as a demonic version of herself on Supernatural. She even wrestled on WWE Monday Night Raw, earning a WWE 2011 A-Lister of the Year Slammy Award.
Snooki’s longest-running post-Shore success, however, has been with BFF JWoww on their hit spinoff Snooki and JWoww. The four-season series chronicled their friendship, as well as Polizzi’s pregnancy and marriage to Jionni LaValle.
The duo filmed an additional show, titled Snooki & JWoww: Moms with Attitude, for AwesomenessTV. She later teamed up with her husband for the home renovation series Nicole and Jionni’s Shore Flip and also competed on The New Celebrity Apprentice and Dancing With the Stars.
Along with most of the original cast, Snooki signed on for Family Vacation, and after a hiatus for the first half of season 4, she returned for its second installment. She was also one of the hosts of the MTV series Messyness alongside Tori Spelling, the late Teddy Ray, and Adam Rippon.
In 2026, she revealed she was diagnosed with cervical cancer. The reality star is hopeful about her treatment options.
Snooki and her husband have three children together.
03 of 09
Vinny Guadagnino
Credit: getty (2)
The nicknameless Vinny Guadagnino, like most of his housemates, has remained on the network since the original series premiered.
In 2013, MTV produced a talk show for the Staten Island native, The Show With Vinny, where the reality star interviewed celebrities in his home over dinner with his family. The series lasted for one season. Aside from returning for Family Vacation, he also costarred in a dating show, Double Shot at Love, with Jersey Shore pal Pauly D.
Outside MTV, Guadagnino hit the dance floor on Dancing With the Stars, performed as “Hammerhead” on The Masked Dancer, and appeared in a Las Vegas residency as one of the iconic Chippendales.
He and his mother also hit the road for their Cooking Channel travel series, Vinny and Ma Eat America, in 2017. After losing 50 pounds on a low-carb diet, he published The Keto Guido Cookbook in 2019.
04 of 09
Paul “DJ Pauly D” DelVecchio
Credit: getty (2)
Pauly D and his signature gelled locks have been busy spinning tracks and looking for love since first gracing the Seaside Heights boardwalk. He signed a three-album deal with 50 Cent’s G-Unit Records in 2011 and opened for Britney Spears on her Femme Fatale tour.
In addition to releasing three singles, he was nominated as “America’s Best DJ” twice and is the resident DJ at Marquee in Las Vegas.
He was the first cast member to receive a spinoff series, The Pauly D Project, which chronicled his life and music career. Pauly is also the narrator of the Paramount+ competition show All Star Shore, which unites cast members from reality franchises throughout the world.
DelVecchio has been on three reality dating shows: Famously Single, Game of Clones, and Double Shot at Love. He participated in Marriage Boot Camp: Reality Stars with former girlfriend, and ex-Danity Kane singer, Aubrey O’Day. He has been in a relationship with Nikki Hall, whom he met on season 1 of Double Shot at Love, since 2020.
In 2013, Pauly announced he had fathered a daughter, Amabella Sophia, with Amanda Markert.
Advertisement
05 of 09
Jenni “JWoww” Farley
Credit: getty (2)
Former party girl Jenni "JWoww" Farley briefly launched a fashion line, Filthy Couture, before costarring in Snooki and JWoww and Snooki and JWoww: Moms with Attitude.
She won season 7 of Worst Cooks in America: Celebrity Edition in 2015, and in 2018 returned to the series that launched her career with Jersey Shore: Family Vacation.
She made her feature acting debut in The Mint (2015), an independent film for which she also served as executive producer. Like her partner-in-crime Snooki, she released a shore-centric book, The Rules According to JWOWW: Shore-Tested Secrets on Landing a Mint Guy, Staying Fresh to Death, and Kicking the Competition to the Curb.
Farley was a cast member of Marriage Boot Camp: Reality Stars in 2014 with then-boyfriend Roger Matthews, whom the star married in 2015. The couple had two children, daughter Meilani and son Greyson, before she filed for divorce in 2018.
JWoww is engaged to AEW star Zack Clayton Carpinello.
06 of 09
Angelina Pivarnick
Credit: getty (2)
After famously leaving the show twice, former waitress Angelina Pivarnick released a single, “I’m Hot,” in 2010 as an attempt to launch a rap career.
She stepped into a different arena in 2011 when she appeared on Total Nonstop Action Wrestling and then found herself in a Twitter smackdown with former housemate, JWoww, when she voiced her opposition to same-sex marriage, a position she later reversed.
She eventually reconciled with the Jersey Shore cast and made guest appearances on Double Shot at Love and Family Vacation before joining the reunion series full-time in 2019.
She competed on the Paramount+ reality show All Star Shore in 2022, which is hosted by her Jersey Shore costar Pauly D, and is a registered FDNY Emergency Medical Technician in Staten Island.
Pivarnick married Chris Larangeira in 2019 but filed for divorce in 2022. She got engaged to model Vinny Tortorella, but the pair split in 2025 amid allegations of infidelity.
07 of 09
Samantha “Sammi Sweetheart” Giancola
Credit: getty (2)
Following Jersey Shore's initial run, Sammi "Sweetheart" Giancola launched a clothing line, Sweetheart Styles, which eventually expanded to accessories and home décor.
She remained in an on-again, off-again relationship with Shore paramour Ronnie Ortiz-Magro until 2014, and was engaged to Christian Biscardi from 2019 to 2021. In 2025, she married bartender Justin May, with whom she shares a son, Vincent.
When it comes to reality TV, Giancola has maintained a lower profile than most of her on-screen Jersey family, only appearing on an episode of Project Runway, a handful of guest spots on Snooki and JWoww, and the E! special Reunion Road Trip: Return to the Jersey Shore.
She declined to participate in Jersey Shore: Family Vacation to focus on her business and relationships, but went on to make later appearances. She also hosted the relationship podcast Just Sayin.
08 of 09
Ronnie Ortiz-Magro
Credit: getty (2)
Ronnie Ortiz-Magro was one-half of Jersey Shore’s most infamous romantic couple. He and Sammi broke up numerous times throughout its run before finally calling it quits off-air in 2014.
He began another relationship full of public ups and downs with realtor Jen Harley, who recurred with him on Family Vacation during their time together. The couple welcomed a daughter, Ariana Sky, in 2018. Both parties were arrested for domestic violence while dating and have since split. Magro entered rehab for alcohol and depression in 2019. He was later engaged to Saffire Matos from June 2021 to July 2022.
Like his castmate Angelina Pivarnick, Ortiz-Magro entered the ring on TNA’s Impact Wrestling. The reality star also followed in the footsteps of Pauly D on season 2 of E!’s Famously Single.
He returned to his Jersey Shore roots for Family Vacation, but took a break from the show in 2021 to seek treatment for mental health issues. He later resurfaced in season 6. During an episode that aired in August 2022, Ortiz-Magro celebrated one year of sobriety.
In 2026, after he was seen nodding off during a promotional interview for the final season of Family Vacation, he opened up on social media about his struggles with "depression, bipolar [disorder], and anxiety."
09 of 09
Deena Nicole Cortese
Credit: getty (2)
After initially declining to join Jersey Shore due to a family emergency, the “Bad Ass Brunette” and friend of Snooki eventually became a cast member in season 3 after Angelina Pivarnick’s departure.
In the time since the show wrapped, Deena Nicole Cortese has mostly kept out of the spotlight with the exception of appearances on Couples Therapy and Snooki and JWoww. She returned to the world of reality television full-time as a series regular on Jersey Shore: Family Vacation in 2018. She has also been a contestant on celebrity editions of Fear Factor and Family Feud.
Cortese married Christopher Buckner in October 2017. The couple have two sons together, Christopher John and Cameron Theo.
Get your daily dose of entertainment news, celebrity updates, and what to watch with our EW Dispatch newsletter.
on Entertainment Weekly
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
