Jersey Shore star DJ Pauly D appeared in rare photos with his daughter Amabella as he surprised her for her 10th birthday.
Pauly D, real name Paul Michael DelVecchio Jr., is seen in images obtained by an MTV fan account, with the first showing him all smiles in a purple floral shirt as he holds a birthday cake next to Amabella.
In a video clip, Pauly D surprises his daughter, who is seen with her mother, Amanda Markert. Amabella screams and hugs her father with excitement during the special moment.
Additional images include someone having snapped Pauly D with his daughter as they take a selfie and a shot of him hugging Amabella with other guests at the event watching.
A final slide in the fan accounts Instagram carousel post has Pauly D posing next to his girlfriend Nikki Hall, Amabella, and Amabella’s mother. The women wore light purple dresses with white sneakers, matching Amabella for the occasion.
Based on the final photo and caption for the IG post, Nikki and Amabella’s mother appear to get along after Pauly D’s previous battle with his daughter’s mom.
DJ Pauly D was previously in a bitter custody battle with Amabella’s mother
Pauly D welcomed his daughter Amabella Sophia with cocktail waitress Amanda Markert in 2013, after a rumored one-night stand while the DJ performed in Atlantic City.
Although the caption above indicates everyone is getting along, it wasn’t always the case for Pauly D and Amabella’s mom.
Pauly and Markert were in a lengthy custody battle over Amabella following her birth. As TMZ reported in October 2013, Markert demanded child support from Pauly D. Meanwhile, Pauly D also filed a countersuit attempting to get some sort of custody rights and even claimed Markert was unfit to be a mother.
A Los Angeles Times report mentioned Markert’s attempts to sell screenshots of text messages Pauly had sent her, including him asking her to get an abortion. Based on the report, Markert took money from Pauly for the abortion but never went through with anything.
In 2014, he’d been trying to see his baby daughter for her first birthday. According to Radar Online, Markert had custody, and they couldn’t work out an agreement for Pauly in time to visit with his daughter.
According to Page Six, Pauly and Markert had supposedly worked out a temporary agreement for him to see Amabella regularly, but at the time, nothing was made official. However, it was reported that Pauly would get to spend time with Amabella a week later.
Pauly began dating his current girlfriend, Double Shot at Love star Nikki Hall, in 2020, and in 2023, it seems everyone is on good terms. The details of Pauly D and Markert’s custody arrangement were never made public. Still, speculation is that Markert has primary custody, as she frequently posts images of Amabella on her Instagram.
Pauly D said ‘It’s just tough’ not seeing his daughter, but he is ‘involved in her life’
In 2018, Pauly D opened up to US Weekly about seeing his daughter and being involved in her life after the messy custody battle.
“When she comes into my house, it echos and she’s loud, moving around,” he shared. “It’s great, right. But when she leaves, it’s, like, silent. And I feel it. I’m like, oh man I miss her. It’s just tough. [But] we FaceTime, I talk to her every single day on the phone, and I’m just involved in her life.”
He also commented about balancing “dad mode” and “work mode” with his busy schedule.
“I think it’s good, it’s the best of both worlds. So how I balance is like, when I’m at work I’m in work mode, when I’m a dad I’m in dad mode. But actually, dad mode calms me down since I’m not traveling when I’m home. So it gives me a chance to be home,” Pauly shared.
It took some time to sort things out between Pauly and Markert. However, everyone seems to be getting along now, allowing the Jersey Shore star much-needed quality time with Amabella, whom he’s previously referred to as his “mini-me.”
Jersey Shore: Family Vacation Season 7 premiere date is TBA for MTV.