Sammi “Sweetheart” Giancola revealed she experienced a “panic attack” and nearly a “heart attack” during a recent incident from Jersey Shore Family Vacation.
In the recent episode from Season 6, viewers saw Sammi’s castmates set up an elaborate stunt to fool the women at the house.
Some viewers may have felt it went too far, based on how much panic it caused the Jersey Shore women.
The prank involved JS OG DJ Pauly D, also known for his previous prank show on MTV, using drones to convince them a UFO attack or alien invasion was happening.
Pauly shared a clip ahead of the episode in which he spoke with several Jersey Shore production members about setting up the stunt. Based on the episode, Vinny Guadagnino was also in the know.
Pauly called it an “epic prank” since aliens were all his castmate, Mike “The Situation” Sorrentino had been talking about lately, and then started convincing his castmates that the “mothership” might be nearing Earth.
Sammi said she ‘almost had a heart attack’ during Pauly’s prank
After it got dark, the crew played a party game involving alcohol where they had to name which castmate was “most judgmental” or “complained the most.” That stirred things up a bit as some individuals took offense to their castmates giving them a specific label.
However, things turned scary when someone noticed some colorful lights flying in the night sky, and the entire group headed outside to see what it was. Pauly began filming it with his phone.
“The aliens are coming. We’re not prepared,” one of the women announced.
“I’m shaking. I don’t like aliens,” Sammi told her castmate inside the house, indicating in a confessional, “There’s aliens here. We’re gonna die.”
After an alarm started blaring, the production team announced on the speakers for everyone to remain inside. Things got even more real and scarier for those not involved in the prank. Deena Cortese was in tears, with someone else saying they needed to get home to their kids.
Taking to Twitter, Sammi gave her thoughts about what went down, and it seemed that the fear she displayed during the episode was no joke or act. One of her first messages talked about the fun car ride she had with the other women as they rocked out to various songs together.
“That car ride was a blast.. so not looking forward to what comes next,” she tweeted.
“Just whyyyyyy 😭😭 #jsfamilyvacation @mtv these pranks 😩😩😭,” Sammi said in one tweet as the episode aired.
“Once I saw production was freaking out that’s when I had a heart attack why did this have to happen,” she tweeted, adding in another tweet, “Get me out of here” with crying emojis during the episode’s airing.
“I legit almost had a heart attack #jsfamilyvacation @MTV @JerseyShore What did you think of tonight’s episode?!” she said in another tweet, asking fans for their feedback.
What did viewers think of Pauly’s prank?
During Pauly and Vinny’s planned prank, Deena was hysterical, and Sammi said she was “freaking out” because she saw “production freaking out” over whatever was happening.
Fans took to Twitter, aka X, to express their thoughts about Pauly’s prank. One individual posted a GIF of a dancing alien and said, “oh this prank gone too far,” and they “would’ve been acting the same way.”
Based on most reactions, the episode’s stunt thoroughly entertained and amused many viewers.
“It was great! Loved Jenni’s This Is The End movie reference. Can’t wait until next week,” one viewer commented.
“I thought it was funniest ever. U calling mom and like aliens r here. Did she ask if u were drunk?” another replied.
One individual called the episode and prank, “great til u had a panic attack.”
Pauly and Vinny appeared on 2020’s MTV show Revenge Prank, where they helped people get payback on others with some serious pranks.
The latest Family Vacation episode ended with a cliffhanger involving their alien prank, leaving viewers waiting until the next episode to see what unfolds. Based on the prank, Pauly can definitely boast of being a “Prank War Champion” among his castmates, as long as none have a legitimate heart attack.
Jersey Shore Family Vacation airs on Thursdays at 8/7c on MTV.