Mike admits he “never thought” an on-camera reunion between the two exes would ever happen, as he teases having nine Jersey Shore cast members for the first time.
The moment Jersey Shore Family Vacation fans have been waiting for is finally coming this season: the reunion between exes Samantha “Sammi Sweetheart” Giancola and Ronnie Ortiz-Magro — which even Mike “The Situation” Sorrentino thought would never happen.
The two exes had a pretty volatile relationship on the original incarnation of the MTV reality show, which Sam distanced herself from in the years since it went off the air. While her costars all returned for Family Vacation, Giancola refused to come back for the follow-up series — that is until Ron stepped away following legal and mental health issues and returned in 2023.
Now they’re both back, with all nine Jersey Shore cast members filming together for the first time ever. That’s right, Mike, Sam, Ron, Jenni “JWoww” Farley, Pauly D, Vinny Guadagnino, Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi, Deena Nicole Cortese and Angelina Pivarnick have never all filmed at the same time … until now.
“The answer is no,” Mike said when asked by TooFab whether he ever thought a full cast reunion would ever happen, “I never thought that this was going to be possible.”
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“When Sam walked through that door a couple months prior, I was like shook to my core. I never thought that she was gonna come back and then let alone a few months later, Ron to also come back and for them to be in the same room at the same time, I’m a fan. I even wanted to see it,” he continued.
Sorrentino said everyone being together again was “very nostalgic,” before praising how they were all able to “turn 15 minutes of fame into 15 years.”
“These guys are not coworkers. They’re coworkers that turned into friends, now into family. So anytime that we film, the dynamic is really like lightning in a bottle,” he continued. “I really wholeheartedly believe that some of the guys that I work with and the girls are some of the best to ever do it.”
Sitch is clearly very proud to be part of the show, noting how many of its fans have also “grown up with us.” As a fan of the series himself, he said he was “really excited” to see all nine of them film together and for the future of the show.
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Of Sam and Ron’s reunion — which Sammi herself spilled about here — he “never thought it was gonna happen.” The fact that it did, he said, “is an amazing accomplishment in itself.”
“I think the fans are gonna tune in. It’s like, ‘Oh my God, I never thought this was gonna happen.’ And you get to see Sam and what she does and what Ron does and how we either move on or move on without somebody. You get to see,” he teased, adding, “There’s a lot of story left to tell for sure.”
Over the past couple years, Mike has been a bit of a cheerleader for Ron, giving him advice how how to best get back in the cast’s good graces following his legal and mental health issues. Now that they’ve all spent more time with Ortiz-Magro, we wondered whether it seemed like Ron was making more headway with the group.
“You need to want it yourself. You gotta put the work in yourself and you gotta put it in one day at a time. And if you do put the work in, okay, everyone gets to see it,” said Mike. “And if you do it long enough, those vibes and those good decisions catch up with you. And then eventually we saw Ron on the show.”
“Obviously, I definitely pushed for a redemption story, but it’s up to Ron to put the work in,” he added. “Just like it’s up to me, just like it’s up to anyone else that wants to make a change in their story. You are all the author of your own story. It’s up to you to write a good one.”
Jersey Shore Family Vacation returns for a new season February 8 on MTV.
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