Sammi “Sweetheart” Giancola has finally come home to the show that made her a household name nearly 14 years ago.
Jersey Shore thrust Sammi to reality TV stardom for six seasons, including documenting her turbulent relationship with Ronnie Ortiz-Magro.
The OG show ended in 2012, and Sammi enjoyed life outside the spotlight.
In 2018 Jersey Shore: Family Vacation brought the cast back together, but Sammi was nowhere in sight.
After declining to appear on the reboot for the first five seasons, Sammi will finally be reunited with her former roommates in the second half of Jersey Shore: Family Vacation Season 6.
Ahead of her highly anticipated return to the show, Sammi got real about why she changed her mind about appearing on the MTV show.
Sammi ‘Sweetheart’ Giancola reveals why she returned to Jersey Shore
Today Sammi appeared on The View alongside cast members Deena Nicole Cortese, Jenni “JWoww” Farley, Giancola, Vinny Guadagnino, Angelina Pivarnick, Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi, and Mike “The Situation” Sorrentino on to dish Jersey Shore: Family Vacation.
It didn’t take long for Sammi’s return to be brought up. Sammi didn’t hesitate to reveal why she didn’t come back sooner. Simply put, Sammi was not in a good place at the time.
“I think when the show was just starting up again, I wasn’t in a good place. I was in a bad relationship. I was going through a lot. I didn’t want to put myself in another toxic environment again,” she expressed.
Sammi admitted so much has changed in her life, which had her rethinking her decision to appear on reality television again. The show has vastly changed, too, now that the cast is older and has families.
“I feel like I’m in all good aspects of my life. I’m ready to come back. I missed everybody. It had nothing to do with the cast. It just felt like now was the right time to come back to everybody. It had to be the right time,” the MTV star shared.
Jersey Shore: Family Vacation Season 6 will also see the return of Ronnie after two-year hiatus. That means Ronnie and Sammi will film together for the first time in 11 years.
Sammi ‘Sweetheart’ Giancola talks reuniting with Ronnie Ortiz-Magro on Jersey Shore: Family Vacation
Talking to Variety this week, Sammi got real about working with her ex-boyfriend Ronnie after all these years. They have not had any kind of relationship since they broke up, and that’s just fine with Sammi.
Going into the season, Ronnie’s nothing more than a colleague to his ex-girlfriend.
“At this point, he’s just a guy I dated in my 20’s. We all go through relationships. He’s basically just a co-worker at this point,” she says. She stays mum on how the long-awaited reunion went — “I guess you’re gonna see how the season plays out,” she expressed to the outlet.
Sammi “Sweetheart” Giancola has changed a lot since Jersey Shore fans last saw her on reality television.
The wait to see just how different she is today is almost over, with Season 6 of Jersey Shore: Family Vacation hitting MTV airwaves this week.
Jersey Shore: Family Vacation returns Thursday, August 3 at 8/7c on MTV.