Jenni “JWOWW” Farley promises Jersey Shore fans will be blown away by the long-awaited reunion between Sammi “Sweetheart” Giancola and Ronnie Ortiz-Magro on this season of Family Vacation.
The MTV star and her castmate Mike “The Situation” Sorrentino spoke with Laverne Cox at Sunday's 2024 People’s Choice Awards carpet. Farley, 37, told fans to anticipate sparks when the former flames reunite this season, teasing, “When I tell you that your jaw will hit the floor, your jaw will hit the floor. I have goosebumps right now.”
She added, “It just needed to be done. We all had to live under a house together, it just needed to be done.”
Sorrentino, 41, chimed in, confessing that as a fan, he “wants to see what happens too” when the exes come together after 10 years apart.
Giancola, 36, and Ortiz-Magro, 38, had a rocky on-and-off relationship throughout the first six seasons of Jersey Shore. Their five-year romance involved an infamous cheating scandal where Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi and Farley wrote an anonymous note to Giancola informing her of Ortiz-Magro’s infidelity.
In 2014, Ortiz-Magro confirmed that he was no longer with Giancola.
“I still care about her,” he said, adding that he wasn’t ready to date again. “She’s a great girl, but we were growing distant. It was for the best.”
The supertease for the latest season of Jersey Shore: Family Vacation, which showed Ortiz-Magro setting his bags down in the cast’s vacation home. Returning as a main cast member after taking a hiatus from the MTV show to seek mental health treatment, Ortiz-Magro declared, “I feel like this is where I belong.”
As castmates including Farley and Polizzi, 36, lined up to welcome Ortiz-Magro back with a hug, Giancola remained seated and later asked, “Am I living in a Twilight Zone?”
At last season’s reunion, the Family Vacation cast discussed Ortiz-Magro’s comeback to the show as a recurring member. Sorrentino said that they “didn’t know” that Giancola would return to the franchise for the seventh season, but when they found out, “it was a scramble to try to maneuver this very delicate situation."
Giancola was “thankful” that her fellow castmates didn’t spring the news on her. "It would have been so bad if they did that," she said.
Upon news of her appearance on season 7 of Family Vacation, Giancola told that she “wouldn’t have come back” if she knew Ortiz-Magro would be there. She said she considers her ex as “just some guy” she dated in her 20s but looks back on her Jersey Shore stint fondly.
“I wouldn't want it to change. It’s a part of my life. It's surreal,” she said.
The 2024 People’s Choice Awards is airing live from Santa Barbara’s Barker Hangar on NBC, Peacock and E! Jersey Shore: Family Vacation returns Thursday at 8 p.m. ET on MTV.
