The secret to the comeback success of “Jersey Shore”?
It’s all about family.
“It’s not all about partying right now, like it was when we first went onthe air,” said Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi to the USA Today Network New Jersey. “It’s about us being a family and still making time for each other.”
“Jersey Shore Family Vacation,” now filming Season 3, is MTV’s top-rated series, according to the channel. The launch of the series last April had more than 10 million viewers overall.
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“We all own homes, we have kids, we’re married but we always make sure we have time for each other,” said Polizzi, who will appear Wednesday, April 24, at the Count Basie Center for the Arts in Red Bank for a live podcast of “It’s Happening with Snooki and Joey.” “It’s about us being a family, having a good time, partying here and there, but us in relationships with each other.”
The cast shares a bond. Polizzi, Paul “Pauly D” Delvecchio,” Jenni “JWoww” Farley, Vinny Guadagnino, Angelina Pivarnick, Ronnie Ortiz-Magro, Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi, Sammi Giancola, and Mike “The Situation” Sorrentino, along with Deena Nicole Cortese, who replaced Pivarnick, were unknowns in 2009 who became overnight reality TV stars, thanks to their highjinks in Seaside Heights.
“We’re currently filming right now, I don’t know when its airing,” said Polizzi of Season 3. “We’ll be filming all summer so we’re super excited about that.”
Will the guys return to the Jersey Shore?
“We don’t know as of right now,” Polizzi, 31,said. “We’re filming us meeting up together, having lunches, checking up on each other.”
There’s a lot tocheck up on. Sorrentino is serving eight months for tax fraud in a federal prison in New York state; Farley filed for divorce in September from the father of her two kids, Roger Mathews; and Ortiz-Magro recently spent a month in a Florida rehab for depression and alcohol abuse. He and his on-again, off-again girlfriend, Jen Harley, have a 1-year old daughter, Ariana.
“We all talk,” Polizzi said. “Mike’s doing good. He’s in jail right now but we have an email service with him, so he’s doing OK right now. Jenni, I’ve never seen her more happier in her life — she’s doing great.Ronnie’s doing really good. He’s being a great dad and he’s on the right track right now.
“He just wants to be a better person for his daughter. He’s doing amazing.”
As for Polzzi, she and husband Jionni LaValle are expecting their third child. It’s a boy, Angelo, Polizzi recently revealed, joining Lorenzo, 6, and Giovanna, 4. She’s balancing motherhood, TV stardom, a clothing line, owning a retail clothing store, The Snooki Shop in Madison, and doing the podcast, all quite nicely.
“It’s about trying to juggle running my store and running my brands and always being there for the kids,” Polizzi said. “Soccer practice, pick them up from up at school.I just have to set my limit. OK, between this hour and this hour is for work and this hour and this hour is for kids.”
Yes, if you go to The Snooki Shop, you just might see Polizzi there.
“I’m always there. I try to go there once a day —it’s literally like 7 minutes from my house,” said Polizzi, who lives in Florham Park. “I like being able to get there every day and making sure everything is running smoothly.”
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You can pick up the “Snookini” line there, designed for all shapes, sizes and ages with a bit of the “Jersey Shore” fabulousness to it, thanks to the line’s leopard prints and bright neon colors.
The “Jersey Shore” fabulousness will be in the house at the “It’s Happening with Snooki and Joey” podcast at the Basie.Joey is Joey Camasta, a stylist and comedian form Union Township who lit up a few episodes of “Jersey Shore Family Vacation” last season. The podcast is fast, wacky and impertinent.
It’s all about the fans, Polizzi said.
“If they didn’t support us, we wouldn’t still be on the air, we wouldn’t have these opportunities,” Polizzi said. “Thank God our fans still love us and and they’re growing with us. They’re the best.”
Chris Jordan: cjordan@app.com;Twitter: @chrisfhjordan
It’s Happening with Snooki and Joey
When: 8 p.m. Wednesday, April 24
Where: Count Basie Center for the Arts, 99 Monmouth St., Red Bank
Tickets: $32.50
Info: thebasie.org
