Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi

00:00:08
Speaker 1: That's okay, because no one here.

00:00:24
Speaker 2: Is Hello tities. Nope, producers, do we have to bleep that now?

00:00:35
Speaker 3: No?

00:00:36
Speaker 2: Okay, Well, I'll just keep work shopping it. Welcome to teen Beat. I am your host, Danielle Fischel, the recent Dancing with the Stars hopeful, current American Idol additional content host, and former child star who spent every landmark moment of her teenage years on TV. No matter what awkward phase I entered, it was in front of a live studio audience in a programming block with a teenage witch and a talking cat. So on this show, I have flipped the script. I'm talking to interesting people about their childhoods, their pre adult existence, where a crush felt like life and death, and weekends just meant more time on the home phone or a few extra minutes polishing up that aim away message. There's only so many my chemical romance lyrics you can quote. I look at it like this. I gave you my childhood. It's time we heard yours. When the history books are written about the rise of reality TV, our grandchildren will start at chapter one. An analytical breakdown of the first foray in the docuseries format. The real world but I'll be nearby, lounging in my rocking chair, poppin' Werther's Originals and sippin' on some metamucil, laughing. How forget that textbook? Emmanuel. Yeah, that's my grandchild's name, Emmanuel. I'll say, sure, Real World was first, but it didn't get good until two thousand and nine. Because that's the true modern birth of unscripted. It's the premiere of MTV's Jersey Shore. The Real World may have been the mole, but Jersey Shore was the traders. It took the original formula and perfected it so that decades to come were now emulating the product of evolution. Influence becomes inspiration, imitation becomes innovation, and everything in between became Italian. Only a handful of TV stars from the past two decades have affected the medium quite like my guests. This week, she became the unforgettable scenes stealing human Beanie baby on the cultural phenomenon that is Jersey Shore, one of the few franchises that doesn't have Real housewives in the title that continues to be a modern day cable tent pole. There's celebrity and then there's celebrity, marked by things like most popular Halloween costume of the year or recurring impression on SNL. It would have been hard to find someone in twenty ten who didn't know her name. Yet somehow she turned getting wasted in her twenties and the assumption of only having fifteen minutes of fame into a full fledged empire, transitioning into a mom of three, a multi time bestselling author, and a beloved entrepreneur. And now she's decided to share even more of her life with the public, facing stage one cervical cancer and hoping her diagnosis can push those who grew up watching her to get those yearly checkups. I know the feeling. So this week I'm thrilled to welcome to teen Beat, a true story of perseverance. Nicole Polizzi, professionally known as Snookie.

00:03:48
Speaker 3: That is the cutest intro I think I've ever heard.

00:03:51
Speaker 2: You are such a wonderful, inspirational person, and I'm so happy to talk to you. And I already complimented your hair, but I have to do it again. I think this is the cutest haircut.

00:04:02
Speaker 3: Yeah, thank you. I mean I definitely didn't do anything with it this morning. It was in a bun I just put it down because the kids are home from spring break. I'm a mess over here, but thank you.

00:04:11
Speaker 2: Yeah.

00:04:11
Speaker 3: I wanted to do like a bob, but not to Bobby. Right. This is a bob for me because I've always had long hair and extensions and I'm just over it. I'm too old to like take care of myself like that.

00:04:24
Speaker 2: Listen, I understand. I have also wanted a lob, but all can't seem to get myself to cut my hair or anything shorter than like boob length.

00:04:32
Speaker 4: So you'll get there, and then you'll okay, great, Well, my instinct is to call you snooky, but I also want to respect Nicole, So you tell me.

00:04:44
Speaker 2: I'm going to follow your lead. What do you like to be cold?

00:04:47
Speaker 3: I'll do both. I mean, I always said that snooky is the brand I feel like when I started to have kids, I was like, all right, like, I know, you know, doing these interviews and they're calling me snooky. But I was like kind of like in the transition of like snooky is like the party girl, and now I'm a mom, like just six months old, so I like, I don't want to be known as a party girl anymore. But like party girl turned mommy.

00:05:08
Speaker 2: Yes, so I kind of was.

00:05:10
Speaker 3: I had a dilemma with it for a little bit, but now it's just like whatever, like Snooky Knuckle, it is what it is.

00:05:16
Speaker 2: Right, So I want to talk to you about young Nicole before the Snooky brand. What were you like as a kid. Did you always have a big personality.

00:05:27
Speaker 3: When I was comfortable and cozy around people. I feel like I was super shy until I really hit like my teenage years, like thirteen, But yeah, I was like shy to meet people. I was shy to like get out there, meet new friends. So my mom really had to push me because I was like wrapped around my mom's leg all the time. Then I think, once you know, I hit like middle school and puberty, that's when I was like okay, like social butterfly, I want to hang out and you know, meet everybody. So I wasn't always outgoing and like bubbly.

00:05:59
Speaker 2: How I seem, Oh that's so interesting. I would often think that people would usually not blossom in maybe what a lot of people consider to be the most awkward years of adolescence, you know, like twelve thirteen, and yet that's really when you felt like you found your stride in your personality. What do you think it was about that time of your life that just made your personality blossom.

00:06:22
Speaker 3: I don't know. I grew up as an only child, so I was adopted, and I was just like attached at the hips my mom, like anywhere we went. I was just like, I don't know, I just always wanted my mommy. I was I was, you know, the only child, like just wanting to be with her her parents all the time. Yeah. But like once, you know, I was making friends and you know, teenage years, you're starting to go to parties and like go out and do things, go to the mall with your friends. I was like, okay, mom, I love you, but like I think I'm gonna you know, spread my wings then, you know, hang out with my friends now. So I think it was just that.

00:06:56
Speaker 2: What were you into as a kid. Did you have any speci toys that you loved?

00:07:03
Speaker 3: Oh my god, POGs?

00:07:04
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, I love the POGs.

00:07:06
Speaker 3: I got the pog makers, so I meet all my POGs, like I made instinct POGs, Backstreet Boy POGs. I still have them.

00:07:11
Speaker 2: Oh my gosh, I love a boy band pog.

00:07:14
Speaker 3: Yes, and then Beanie Babies of course, of course beennie babies. I collected the Mary Kay and Ashley like all of their movies.

00:07:26
Speaker 2: Do you still have your beanie babies?

00:07:28
Speaker 3: I do? Yeah.

00:07:30
Speaker 2: Do you think being raised an only child gave you I mean you said like when you were really young, you were obsessed with your parents and maybe a little shy. But do you think that having that security of being an only child and being close to them through all your young years gave you any sort of like main character energy as a teenager?

00:07:50
Speaker 3: Yes? Absolutely, Because when I met Jenny so Jenny on the show j Wow, she's an only child too. So once I started to like hang out with all the cast, like everybody had siblings, me and Jenny were the only one. So if it like it wasn't about us or we weren't the number.

00:08:04
Speaker 2: One, we were like what's this?

00:08:06
Speaker 3: What is that? So it's kind of like we had to get used to, you know, having having siblings. Literally we all lived into the house because it's like we're sharing things and it's not on our time and it's not our world. So yes, it's definitely just like a shock, Like you know, when you're an only child, it's literally like you're spoiled. It's all about you, and then when you know you're living with other people, it's like, oh my god, like I hate this. I want I want it to be all about me in my space and being alone. So yeah, it was definitely a shock to both of us. But I ended up, you know, eventually, I ended up like getting a genealogist to like look at everything because it was a close adoption. So my mom had like a certain amount of papers and then she she took that and you know, found my birth family. So I do have one sister and one brother.

00:08:56
Speaker 2: Wow, Okay, so you do have siblings. You do have siblings. Okay, you have a brother and a sister. Have you met your biological mother?

00:09:05
Speaker 3: No? So I'm I'm still in the process of like doing everything, and I did everything on the show, you know, so like the fans can see it, and it's a huge thing for me. I never I never thought that I wanted to do that. So I did every single process on the show of like meeting with the genealogists, her finding out the information, giving me the binder so I see what they look like and where they live. And the furthest thing I got to was doing a phone call with them. So we started doing like a text and it was through Facebook because they're on Facebook. So I had a translator and she had a translator. But then like the texting was like it was just so hard. Yeah, like can we call you so then you can hear our voice and it'd be easier. And then that was crazy because I didn't think I would get so emotional with hearing her voice. Oh yeah, So that that was crazy. And I think now the next step would be FaceTime and then eventually, you know, going to see her, but I don't know.

00:10:03
Speaker 2: We'll see what happened one step at a time exactly. You called yourself the Princess of Poughkeepsie though you tech her, though you technically grew up in Marlborough. So may I suggest that you now adopt the mama of Marlborough.

00:10:30
Speaker 3: I mean, yeah, I'll take my mama on Marlborough, Okay, I like that. I literally, So I always went out and Poughkeepsie, and I feel like I didn't want to see Marlborough like where I was from, because it's just fall town. No one's gonna know it on a map, and Poughkeepsie's like across the bridge across the river, so I always went there to like go out like that. That was like my night life, like going to the bars and the clubs and everywhere I went, like people knew like, oh here she is, it's gonna be a crazy night. So yeah, Princess of Poughkeepsie, Like I thought that was so cool, and now I'm like, ugh, fringe.

00:11:03
Speaker 2: We all look back at our things we thought were very cool back then and cringe. Now, what did you do for fun as a kid in Marlborough? You were? Were you a cheerleader?

00:11:14
Speaker 3: Yees? So I grew up on an apple orchard, so it's literally like all apples everywhere.

00:11:19
Speaker 2: Beauful.

00:11:20
Speaker 3: Yeah, I graduated with like one hundred and twenty kids, so it was a small town. But like I loved it and I missed it so much I wish I could go back. But yeah, I grew up like quatting. I grew up doing competitive gymnastics from like five to twelve, and I did that for a while and then like once I got older, I was like, this is too much. It's not fun anymore. It feels like work and it feels like I don't want to be here anymore, just because I knew, Like I got to the level and that was it, Like I'm not elevating. I was like scared to do the bars. I was only good at tumbling the beam I sucked. So I'm like, I'm not going to get any anywhere else, right, you.

00:12:01
Speaker 2: Didn't see a future for that.

00:12:03
Speaker 3: I'm like, I hit my max. So then I was like, I still want to I love tumbling, I love you know, doing all that, So let me try cheer. So my first year at cheer was in sixth grade, and you know, tried out for the cheer team for the school and I ended up just taking everything over. I was teaching people how to tumble. I was like the coach teaching people how to tumble. I made all the dances for like the pep rally. So I really fell in love with cheer. So I wish I did cheer from the beginning. But no competitive gymnastics.

00:12:31
Speaker 2: It's abast Yeah it is. My cousin was in competitive gymnastics and she was incredible. But it's also very hard on your body.

00:12:39
Speaker 3: Yes, very hard on your body, and I feel like it stunt my growth a little bit. But no, I'm pretty sure I'm supposed to be small.

00:12:45
Speaker 2: Anyway, Yeah, I'm only I actually just told somebody last night, I'd say I'm five to one, but I'm pretty sure I've already shrunk at you know, forty four years old, so i don't even think i'm a full five to one yet.

00:12:57
Speaker 3: Yeah, it happens. We're gonna shrink. We're gonna be like Ganonas when we're.

00:13:00
Speaker 2: Old, exactly. We're just gonna be so tiny. And now your daughter is following in your footsteps, right, you're a dance mom. Oh really?

00:13:11
Speaker 3: So she actually does competitive cheer. I only did like school cheer, so it was like town cheer. You just show up to like the football games, and you know, you just cheer on the sideline. I didn't do All Star cheer until I was like twenty, and that was like an open cheer, so you could be eighteen to forty. And that's when I like did the backtop basket tosses and all of that, and I loved it. But then I tried out for the show and then I just stopped doing it because I was busy with the show. Right, So I always said if I had a daughter, I was going to push her into cheer and if she liked it she liked it. If not, you know, we'll do something else. So I took her to an all star cheer gym at three and like had her run around, and ever since then she never left. So the gym has known her since she was three. She's now going to be twelve soon. She's been there for years and she's killing it. She's way better than I ever was.

00:14:03
Speaker 2: That's amazing, and it's so smart that you were like, Okay, you looked back on your own experience and thought, I wish I would have just started with cheer instead of going the gymnastics to cheer root and so with her, you just like started there. And now she's got that foundation.

00:14:16
Speaker 3: Oh yeah, she's awesome. She's incredible. She's everything that I wish I was growing up. And I'm just so proud of her. And she works hard. She's my little mini me, my best friend, and I mean, I'm hoping she continues it like forever, because now she has the talent. So the point where like you can get like a little scholarship for cheer because cheer is like a big thing in college. Now, yeah, let's keep at it because you work so hard, like.

00:14:40
Speaker 2: Don't quit exactly, yes, Wow, that will be amazing. Imagine where does where If you had to pick like your dream place for her to go to school, where would she go to college?

00:14:52
Speaker 4: Oh?

00:14:52
Speaker 3: I haven't thought about it. I mean, obviously my favorite team in college is is Navarro. Okay, they're incredible this year they're insane. But that's only like a community college. So she would go there for like two years. Yeah, But I mean I don't want her to live my dream. I want her to go wherever she wants to go. I love her, but like I'm always like, keep with cheer. Yeah, incredible. That is your sport. You work so hard for it, So you know, whatever she wants to do, I'm going to be a very proud mama.

00:15:27
Speaker 2: Is there anything different you do than maybe your parents did with you pertaining to being a cheer mom? Is there any like any sort of way you're raising your kids where you go? I didn't love this when I was a kid. I'm going to do it differently for my own Yeah.

00:15:44
Speaker 3: I think probably how strict they were because I wasn't comfortable talking to them about things. And if I was somewhere where I was uncomfortable and I called them and say, like I had a few drinks. And you know, I was in high school, like I wasn't called cofable calling them because I knew they would scream at me. Like I wasn't allowed to swear in the house. Like they were very stressed. Like even even when I was like nineteen, I would say a bedword in front of my mom and she would be like, oh, and I'm like, oh my god, it's over. So that's why I'm on the show. I'm like, oh, my parents are really going to see who I.

00:16:17
Speaker 2: Am now right the mask is off?

00:16:21
Speaker 3: Yeah. So and I was twenty one, so I'm like, come on, so now raising my kids, I just want like full transparency, Like you can come to me with anything. I'm not going to scream at you. I'm not gonna yell at you. I'm gonna be there for you, not necessarily like I want to be just like friends, you know, but I am here for you, know, for you to talk to me about uncomfortable things. I'm not gonna be mad at you. I'm not gonna yell at you. I'm just here to talk. But like also, if something does bother me, I won't yell at you in the moment, but then we're going to have a serious conversation and you might get in trouble.

00:16:55
Speaker 2: Yeah, a little bit doesn't mean there are no repercussions, factly, but I.

00:16:58
Speaker 3: Don't want to be. I don't want them to be scared to tell me things. And that's how I felt with my parents, and I hated it. So I don't want that with my kids. So I'm trying to have an open communication with them about everything, and I think I'm doing a good job with that so far.

00:17:13
Speaker 2: Good good. I'm happy to hear that you've talked about the origin of the name Snooky, that it's from the movie Save the Last Dance, and it's because you were the first in your friend group to kiss a boy. I want to hear all about this first kiss. How old were you? Who was the boy? Tell me all the deats.

00:17:31
Speaker 3: I feel like I was twelve or thirteen. But it wasn't like a crazy kiss.

00:17:35
Speaker 2: It was just like a wow yeah yeah.

00:17:38
Speaker 3: But so our best movie was Say the Last Dance. At the moment like we love Say the Last Dance. It was the thing. And my best friend Katie, she decided to call me Snuky, and she was the only one that called me Snuky in my entire life, like ever, like she would call me snook, like she never called me nick, So my friends call me nick nick or Nicole, like she never she never called me that. She always called me snook. And the last dance it's Snook the Kucci Crook and she's like, I think I'm gonna call you that now because you're the first one to kiss a boy. I was like, okay, whatever. So she was the only one that called me that in my entire life. So when I was doing the applications for Jersey Shore, they were really harping on, like we want everybody to have a nickname. So they're like, does anybody call you like another name? And I'm like, oh, well, one of my best friends calls me snooky and then it.

00:18:31
Speaker 2: Just stuck so unbelievable. How does Katie feel about that now?

00:18:35
Speaker 3: She's like, where's my paycheck? Girl? She's like that is insane.

00:18:40
Speaker 2: I'm like, I know, that is so funny. So getting back to your first kiss, who was the boy? And do you are you still? Have you ever talked to him again?

00:18:53
Speaker 3: Yeah? So the boy was in my grade. He was my first like real boyfriend, and then once we broke up because we were, you know, kids, We were best friends in high school. We're still friends on Facebook. He's carrying two kids. But he was like in high school we had like core best friends and like guys and girls, and he was a part of it, and we just became best friends. So yeah, Also, to this.

00:19:20
Speaker 2: Day, that's so cute. Did you know what you were doing?

00:19:23
Speaker 3: Did it?

00:19:23
Speaker 2: Just like what led up to the moment of the big kiss, Like, was this was obviously your you know, your first boyfriend. You're twelve or thirteen, so what does a boyfriend really mean at that at that age? But leading up to that first kiss, you are you nervous? Do you know what you're doing?

00:19:40
Speaker 3: So I remember we were at my friend's house and he had like a little get together, so we were all in the basement and everybody was in couples okay you know, of course, and then couples started kissing, and we were like, what do we do? Are we doing this? So once he left, it was just like a peck goodbye, and then we were just like, we did it.

00:20:02
Speaker 2: Congratulations, our first kiss. Check that box. Your skyrocket to fame is probably something that should be studied by historians. Jersey Shore was an overnight phenomenon and you became a brand name immediately. When and how did you realize this was a big, big deal?

00:20:25
Speaker 3: Well, it was crazy because when we shot the show, we had no idea what it was going to be called or what it was. I was just excited to like, finally do reality because I always wanted to. I was a huge reality fan of like Real World, World Rules, and I just wanted to try it out. And I knew I was going to have fun and we would love it. So we ended up doing it that summer, but then like a whole year went by and we didn't hear anything. So we were like, were we awful? Not like it? We're like, I guess we just did that for nothing, But you know, it was fun. We had a free shorehouse and it was great. So then we started, you know, seeing the previews and it came out and just everybody was talking about it. And the fact that it was so controversial, like everyone hated us off the bat, like without even watching, I'm like, oh my god. I was like, We're just here to have fun, like we're not trying to kill anybody. So the fact that it was controversial, I was like, Okay, I think we have something here. And then I think once the episode aired where I got punched in the face, then everybody was talking about it, and then everyone started watching the show, and I think that's the episode that really got people talking and tuning in. Yes, so yeah, once I started going because I used to work at the mall forever twenty one and I would always go to like, you know, the mall to like, you know, see my old coworkers and shop. And after that episode air, like a few weeks later, I went to the mall to go shopping, like thinking nothing of it, and I couldn't walk anywhere. People were like, oh my god, you're that girl. And I was there was a line to take pictures and I'm like, oh my god, Like is this my life now? Like I can't go to my mall now. So once that happened, I was like, all right, things you're definitely going to change.

00:21:58
Speaker 2: Yeah, my whole life is different. I want to talk about that punch because it is one of those moments where I look at it now with a twenty twenty six lens and I can't believe it was pop culture fodder, Like it is aggressive assault just a man cold cocking a woman and it aired unedited originally, then over and over again. But at that point censored, were you privy to anything with the process of them deciding to air it and how they were going to do.

00:22:29
Speaker 3: It, Well, MTV. I had a meeting with MTV and they were like, listen, we know this happened. What do you want us to do because we want you to be comfortable, okay, And at that moment, like it was just so fresh and I was still like traumatized over it. I was like, can you please like not air it but like black it out, like if you keep the audio, but like, don't show it yet until like I'm over it. So they ended up airing it blacked out, and then eventually I was like, all right, it's fine, like you know, you can put it on the DVD. And because it was DVDs, right, I was like, yeah, I just put on the DVD and it's fine, Like I'm over it, It's okay. So then it was on the DVDs and then everyone finally saw it. So I love the fact that, you know, the network was very respectful and like my feelings over it, because that was insane and it took me like two years to get over it because it was so scary. But then it's just like a right, like I'm fine, everything's fine, Like it was a shitty situation, and you know.

00:23:31
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, it's it's very shocking. It's shocking to see. It's shocking that it happened. I mean, I can't believe it only took you two years to get over it. Did you have then a fear of like being in public spaces? Did you did you ever then have a fear of men? What was the what was the immediate aftermath of that kind of trauma?

00:23:53
Speaker 3: Not like a fear of men. But I feel like when I went out, I was more I was more aware of my STrenD and like I was, I wasn't gonna like stick up for myself with men. Like the whole point was he was stealing our shots, and he ordered shots, he stole them, ordered shots again, he took them by the fourth round of shots that we I was ordering, and he took again without paying and we were paying. I was like, all right, man, like enough is enough? Yeah, So I think you know, if that were to happen, I would just walk away instead of like speaking up and that you know, it just changed how I went out a little bit, like being around men and around people that I didn't know.

00:24:35
Speaker 2: Yeah, had you spent a lot of time on the Jersey Shore before the show aired? And how many novelty T shirts have you purchased over the years?

00:24:46
Speaker 3: Yeah? So I grew up going to Point Pleasant, so that's like another another beach. It's probably like, you know, twenty five minutes from Seaside, and it's more like family oriented. So I would go there with my mom and my best friend. We would go there for a couple of nights. But then once I got older, like eighteen nineteen, we would drive down the Seaside and stay in like the cheap seaside motels and just enjoy beach because that's like where all the young kids went. So yes, I did go before the show, and I was so excited that I was going to be in Seaside cause I'm like, oh my god, I'm all my friends, I know where to go, like all the hotspots, So I was super excited for that. And what about the shirt?

00:25:27
Speaker 2: How many novelty T shirts have you purchased over the years?

00:25:31
Speaker 3: Oh my god, Well, I would say stolen it definitely stole something because not.

00:25:38
Speaker 2: What's your favorite thing you've ever stolen.

00:25:42
Speaker 3: From?

00:25:42
Speaker 2: Now the Shore or in general.

00:25:45
Speaker 3: I stole Crocodilly. I saw, yeah, the machine was open, and I was like, oh my god, I want that, and Crocodilly has been stolen. I kidnapped him.

00:25:55
Speaker 2: Okay, you kidnapped Crocodilli, all right, I don't think.

00:25:58
Speaker 3: What's up?

00:26:00
Speaker 2: Podcast exclusive? I love it. Make sure you have a tag now, like an air tag on Crocodili, because I do not want crocadiliy be stolen.

00:26:08
Speaker 3: Now, nobody comes to steal him now.

00:26:10
Speaker 2: Exactly, it's yours. So this cast, you are thrown into it, honestly, very much the same way I was, you know, thrown into a cast on Boy Meets World and you're like, okay, now go be family. How many of the Jersey Shore cast members would have been your actual friends in real life had you met out in the street instead of just on the show.

00:26:44
Speaker 3: First impressions? Yeah, or well, walking into the house right away, I was like, what is this Benny guy doing here? He's not a wido, Like he's boring. She looks like a wannabe rapper, Like who is that.

00:26:58
Speaker 2: Wally?

00:26:59
Speaker 3: Right away? I was like, yep, a hang out with you, Ronnie, yep, Mike. Maybe because we all had the same look except Vinnie, right, So I would saying.

00:27:09
Speaker 2: Everybody in the house except Vinnie.

00:27:13
Speaker 3: Stuck out like a sore thumb. We're like, what are you doing here?

00:27:17
Speaker 2: Obviously a lot of that first season centered around drinking. Had you been a big drinker before the show?

00:27:25
Speaker 3: Yes, I loved going out. I love having fun and yeah, that was the first summer that I was legally twenty one. Okay, I was like I'm going out. I was like, I just broke out with my boyfriend. I was like sad at the time, so I was like, I'm going to go out and enjoy myself and I'm young, and yeah I was. I was ready to go that summer.

00:27:45
Speaker 2: Did you ever feel out of control with your drinking and what is your relationship with alcohol? Like now.

00:27:53
Speaker 3: Now? I never thought it was like a problem, just because I was so young and we were all doing it, and when I was like tired, I rested. I was like, I'm not going to force myself. I don't feel like drinking today, Like I'm gonna take it easy. So I never thought it was a problem. It was just like going out and partying and having fun. And now I mean, of course it's still like my cocktails, but Mommy, Mommy, Judy's are first, and I plan. I plan my life first, and then I'm like, okay, So like, for instance, if so tomorrow I have a flight and I have to go to work for a couple of days, and you know, knowing that I have to do that, Like I'm not gonna have a glass of wine tonight for dinner. I'm not going to do that. If I know I have something to do the next day or like that week, I just you know, I don't have anything. So I'm a social drinker now. If I go out, absolutely marchinie some wine. But like if I'm just hanging out at the house, like, no, there's no drinking. I have no desire to do it. I think it's more of just a social thing now, you know, when I'm out for dinner or out with my mom friends or you know, on dates, it's more of like a social thing now. But I do like my martinis.

00:29:04
Speaker 2: Yes, I love that. For you. Thinking about the fact that you have kids now, your oldest is almost twelve, right harteen, they're t wow, almost thirteen. Wow, how much do your kids know about your history, your fame? Do they know about the punch?

00:29:22
Speaker 3: Like?

00:29:22
Speaker 2: How much do they know about what you are known for?

00:29:27
Speaker 3: Well, my two oldest Lorenzo's thirteen, Giovanna's eleven, and then so Angelo knows nothing, Like he'll see me sometimes when I put the TV on, like the the fire six screen. Sometimes the show will pop up on Paramount and he's like, mom, that's you, and I'm like, I know, honey, like that's mommy's job because he's when I work, and he doesn't understand what my work is. So I'm like, when mommy leaves for work, like that's what I'm doing. I'm on TV. And he's like, how do you get into the TV?

00:29:54
Speaker 2: It's like right right, yep.

00:29:56
Speaker 3: So now he understands, like, you know, when mommy goes to work, she's going to be on TV eventually. But my oldest, you know, thirteen, all of his friends, you know, watch Jersey Shore. Now, I like, now the kids they see clips on TikTok, they see clips on Jersey Shore like TikTok, like all the crazy scenes, and then they start bringing the show. So it's like I feel like the show is never going to die because like the younger generations just keep watching it and then they fall in love, you know. So Lorenzo, I don't know how much he's seen, but I mean he's seen enough. I feel like, what was that? I just tell him that was scripted. Yeah, know, it's acting and they told me to do that and it's not real.

00:30:39
Speaker 2: I love that. That's very smart.

00:30:41
Speaker 3: Esventually, I'll be like, yeah, honey, that was mommy before, and don't do what I did right.

00:30:48
Speaker 2: I mentioned SNL in the opening. Bobby moynihan played you a few times. What did you think of that at the time in Awesome?

00:30:56
Speaker 3: I was like, oh my god, SNL, like we made it, you did it, and I never got offended.

00:31:01
Speaker 2: I don't know.

00:31:02
Speaker 3: I just feel like I was always comfortable in my own skin, and I knew I was crazy and dramatic, so when people made fun of me, I'm just like, I made it like a South Park thing. I was like a big fat rat and the whole episode was based on me, and growing up I was a huge Seuth Park fan.

00:31:16
Speaker 4: I was like, oh my god, I got my own episode, so insane.

00:31:20
Speaker 3: And then yeahes so now Bobby kept doing it, and then for New Year's one year we did a skit together. It was just awesome. It just it made me feel great about myself.

00:31:31
Speaker 2: Yeah good, Oh yeah good, That's exactly what I was hoping to hear. One of the things that I love so much is that that anonymous email you and Jay Wow wrote to Sam about Ronnie kissing another girl lives in meme infamy. I will always remember the line also was grinding with multiple fat women. Did you ever expect that would be a thing that twenty years later people would still obsess.

00:32:02
Speaker 3: Over No, and everyone's always like, oh, the producers told you to do that. That was all our idea. So we wanted so we were friends with ron and Sam at the moment, and we didn't want Ron to hate us for like writing them out, but also like our girl, like what are you doing? So we didn't want to calluse drama, and we wanted to make it anonymous. So in the house, we're not allowed electronics, we're not allowed to go to a computer and print something. We can't even write anything. There's no pens and paper, like all communication has to be a face to face. So I went to the producer and I'm like, listen, Sam needs to know this, but like, we don't want Ron to kill us, So are we able to like go to like a cafe and like print something and just anonymously leave it for her? And we knew eventually, like you know, the cameras were following us, We knew eventually that she was going to find out what was us, But we had like a good two years yea until she would find out in it air. So yeah, that was all our idea because we just didn't want we don't want Ron to hate us. But now looking back at it, I would have been like, run your freaking idiot, Like why would you do that? Like fam what happened? So yep, yeah, I would do things way differently now. But like in the moment, I mean, we were living in that house for like a month and a half together and me and Jenny did not want the drama.

00:33:22
Speaker 2: In the moment, I remember those feelings of being a teen and being friends with both people and it being very clear one of them is in the wrong, but you still don't want to rat on that person, like you have a sense of loyalty to them, and you feel like you're stuck between a rock and a hard place of like, well, I want my friend to know who she's dating, but also like I'm still friends with that guy. So it's funny because now, in hindsight, I feel exactly the same way. I'm like, no, you're the one who's screwing up. I'm gonna just say the truth. But at the time, it's a very big deal to make that decision.

00:33:54
Speaker 3: Yeah, we knew nobody was going to tell her, and we weren't even there to witness it. Everyone else was telling us. I feel awful for her, like, you know, they're totally fine, but she has no idea what's going on and no one's telling her.

00:34:05
Speaker 2: So, yeah, you did.

00:34:07
Speaker 3: The best that we could in the moment, but we had no idea that it was going to blow up the way that it did.

00:34:11
Speaker 2: And people still talking about it this many years later. You are still working with these former roommates. Twenty years later. The final Jersey Shore Vacation season will air in May. You guys have all been through so much together. How do you explain your feelings for these friends of yours that you've known for so long?

00:34:35
Speaker 3: Oh my god, they're literally my brothers and sisters, like best friends. I'm sure you can relate. It's just like something that no one will ever understand, but you guys, it's just like you had these memories and going through things and your life changing overnight, and only we know about it, and how you know, it's just our memories and our memories. So yeah, it's kind of like it's kind of like that, and we'll always have each other and we're literally best friends. We talk every single day, we have our group chat, and I think we'll be best friends forever, you know. And even though this is our final season, so this is I think season nine, I don't know we film We filmed this season that's airing in May, like a year and a half ago, so I don't even remember where we were what we did. But yeah, it's going to be the final season on MTV because you know, networks change and they re bring two different things. So I am blessed, you know that we had all those years on MTV. We've been with them since two thousand and nine, so reality shows don't really stay that long. So you know, we are blessed that we had all those years, you know, with MTV. But we know eventually, you know, we were gonna end up you know, not doing the show on MTV and going somewhere else. So yeah, I think the transition now because we're definitely not done filming, and we always film into we're nursing homes, killing each other.

00:36:00
Speaker 2: I love that Jersey Shore retirement home.

00:36:03
Speaker 3: Literally and I feel like the fans will so watch it. So now we're just figuring out, you know, what our next move is, the next show, where we're going to go. So yeah, we still have a lot to offer with our show. But yeah, it's the final season and it's it's bittersweet.

00:36:20
Speaker 2: Yeah, well it's the final season in this iteration. I'm I can't wait to see what you guys continue to.

00:36:24
Speaker 3: Do next next chapter.

00:36:26
Speaker 2: I reached out to you privately around the time of your cancer diagnosis, knowing firsthand it is quite a journey and you face a wide array of emotions, so I wanted to ask you, how are you feeling now and where are you in the journey of dealing with a new diagnosis.

00:36:44
Speaker 3: Yeah. No, I definitely appreciate you reaching out. That made me feel nice and cozy because I know you've sent through a lot of stuff. It was definitely scary, and I feel like it's a very common thing that no one really talks about. Yep. Because I was freaking out, like, oh my god, like what is this? I never I never heard of this, Like what am I to expect? Like what do I do? And then of course I went on TikTok and I put in cervical cancer ye, And there so many tiktoks of women like this is what happened. And I had to do this and I had to do that and now I'm fine, and like no one talks about it. So I'm like, you know what, eventually, when I get comfortable talking about this, I'm going to make a TikTok and just be like, listen, no one's talking about this. This is what I'm going through. Everything's going to be fine, but like, get your pap smears, get your checkups, because what happened to me was I always had this, but it was never pre cancerous or it was never like scary. My doctor was just always like, you have to come every six months so we can keep an eye on it and make sure nothing happens because you're supposed to go like every once two years, I think, but like I had to go over for six months because there was always abnormalities, yeah, in my tests. But then like I would go every six months and he would say, you have to come back to do like more, and it's just so uncomfortable and I hated it and it hurt and I just I didn't see him for two years and I ignored him and I was like, I'll be fine, it's all right. And then he ended up he ended up calling me and you know, left voicemails like you really need to get in here, like we have to stay on top of this to make sure nothing happened. I was like, all right. So then I would go to like the appointment and he would see pre cancer cells and I would have to go back. So that's when it started, right, and I was like that's fine. So that I didn't see him for another year. So then the doctor's office is like sending me letters like you have to schedule your appointment, like what are you doing? And I don't know. I think I was just like I didn't want there to be an issue or I didn't want to deal with it, so I ignored it. But then also like I hated going to it, like it's just uncomfortable and it's not fun and just being a woman is not fun at all when it comes to a pointments in your body and babies and it's just not easy and it's scary. So I just put it in the back of my mind. And then eventually my doctor, and this is the doctor who like birth all my three kids, like I've known him for years. He's like, you have to get your ass in here, right, he screaming, and I'm like, oh my god. So that's when I went in, and then I had to that. Then he was like, there's severe free cancer cells, like you have to come back for a colposcopy, and I'm like great, So I just I scheduled the appointments.

00:39:33
Speaker 2: I went in.

00:39:33
Speaker 3: He did it, which is very uncomfortable by the way, because they don't give you any pain meds or anesthesia.

00:39:38
Speaker 2: And it's literally a scraping of your cervix right oh, like a biopsy.

00:39:46
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's a chunk of biopsy on both sides. So I was like, oh my god, that's very uncomfortable. So did that biopsy came back? Hi, you have cancer, so let's so let's do the I did the cone buiop.

00:40:00
Speaker 2: See okay.

00:40:01
Speaker 3: So that was like a couple of weeks later, where I had to get put under and then he put like a he he took out a cone shape with a knife where where all like the real cancer cells were like at the top of my service. So the next step I did was the pet scan to see if like spreads in my lymph nodes, because I guess I have the cancer where it goes to your lymp notes and that was good. That was good to spread anywhere, which is good because now I don't need you know, chemo. The next step is just to get the hysterectomy and then hopefully everything is good. So I still have to get that done. I've just been so crazy with work and traveling and yeah, everyone's yelling at me, so screw work, like you need to keep your health first. But I'm like, I know, but these dates are already scheduled, and I'm like it's very hard to shut down production.

00:40:48
Speaker 2: Yeah you know what I mean.

00:40:50
Speaker 3: And it's in another country and I'm just trying to get it done. So yeah, eventually I will get the hysterectom and everything will be good to just where I have to like go to the appoint and make sure I'm okay. Yeah, you know, like the pups and everything's it's always going to be in my body. But the good thing is that I caught it early and it's very common. And yeah, now, like my PSA is just like do your appointments. Don't do what I did and wait and let it faster. I mean, stress makes it worse. Like why not to be stressed and just go to your appointments and get it done because I'm an idiot. It ignored my doctor for like two years.

00:41:27
Speaker 2: Yeah yeah, and you know, I remember that was one of my PSAs as well, because I knew. I was so happy I didn't ignore my appointments because in hindsight, don't you look back and think as annoying as those doctor's appointments were, having a hysterectomy is ten times more annoying. Now you've got a schedule that.

00:41:48
Speaker 3: Like, now I'm terrified, but I heard it's like it's easy breathing, It's not terrible. I think it was more of a shock that like, oh wow, like I can never have kids again, Like I'm done, Like I don't want any more kids, right, but knowing that I don't have that, I think that's where I had like the mental breakdown, like I don't know, like I'm going to feel like less of a mom or a woman. I don't know. I had really really weird thoughts in crime Shower about it.

00:42:17
Speaker 2: There are definitely strong emotions attached to all sorts of things that have to do with our health. And you know, like you said, yeah, it's like having that choice taken away from you is a different feeling than just knowing you're done having kids on your own volition exactly. Yeah, yeah, I get that. Has opening up about your diagnosis publicly overall been a positive experience for you. Have you felt the love from people?

00:42:41
Speaker 3: Yes, I'm like, oh my god, if I ever pass away, all these people are just going to be so sad because I had no idea how many people like loved me and reached out to me, even like people that I haven't talked to in years, like they wrote me like these beautiful text messages, and I just felt really loved, which was great because that, you know, that means you feel good. But yeah, I think you know the more of people like like fans and like random people dming me yeah and saying hey, I work at a guy in a collegist office, and we got so many calls because of your video. Thank you so much. So like everyone was just booking their appointments. I'm like, thank you, Like that was that was the whole point of why I was explaining my journey on what was going on. So I'm glad it worked and everyone's looking there. You know, everyone's booking their scans. Yeah. No. The fact that, like I'm still getting gms with people, like I finally went to my scan and now I'm going through what you're going through. They caught it early, and yeah, I'm getting a lot of those messages and I'm like, you got this, Like I'm the biggest scaredy cat in the world. I do not like pain, I don't suels, I don't like anything. So the fact that I'm just going and getting this done like you could do.

00:43:50
Speaker 2: It, I love that. I love it. I'm not letting Snookie get off that easy. She's sticking around for a bonus episode dropping this Friday, where we will hear a listener's awkward childhood story and get to know more about our newly crowned Mama of Marlborough. Make sure you are subscribed to teen Beat wherever you get your podcasts. That way, you're on top of all of our new releases, and I'd love to hear your tales of terror. Just record a voice memo of your most embarrassing story and send it to Teenbeatpod at gmail dot com and I just might play it in a future episode. Teenbeat is an iHeart podcast produced and hosted by Danielle Fischel. Executive producers Jensen Karp and Amy Sugarman, Executive in charge of production Danielle Romo, Producer and editor Tara Subosch. The theme song is by mar Coppus. Yes that Mark Coppus. Follow us on Instagram at teenbeat Pod