Is the meatball back? Jersey Shore fans were riled up on Tuesday after seeing Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi in photos and videos from a press day the cast did for the upcoming fourth season of MTV’s Jersey Shore: Family Vacation reboot. Nicole’s heavy presence during the promo day was a surprise to many fans seeing as she announced her departure from the show on December 6.
The mom of three shared a group photo with the cast, which included Jersey Shore veterans Jenni “JWoww” Farley, Mike “The Situation” Sorrentino, Deena Nicole Cortese, Vinny Guadagnino, and “DJ Pauly D.” DelVecchio. She made no hints of a return in her caption, which was simply tagged with the official Jersey Shore Instagram account. Pauly D commented on the photo and wrote, “Oh hi my family 🙏🏽🙌🏽,”
Snooki, 32, shared a series of videos from the press day to her Instagram Stories, one of which included her best friend, JWoww. “What’s your favorite moment from next season?,” Snooki asked, to which she replied, “I got a few.” Snooki followed up with, “Do you regret anything?” Jenni played coy and laughed. “A lil bit,” she teased.
(Photo credit: Snooki/Instagram)
The Situation later shed light on Nicole’s surprising appearance in a video he shared to his Instagram Stories.
“Oh my God, Snooki didn’t quit,” Mike quipped as he put the camera on his former co-star. He too shared the same group snap with the caption, “Squad it lit.”
Nicole broke the news that she would not be back for season 4 of Jersey Shore: Family Vacation during an episode of her podcast, “It’s Happening With Snooki & Joey.”
“There’s reasons why I’ve come to this decision,” she said on the December 6, episode. “It’s definitely a hard decision,” Nicole noted before she announced her official resignation.
“OK, you guys, I love you so much, and don’t hate me for my decision, but I have to do what’s best for me at the moment, and I am retiring from Jersey Shore,” she said. “I am not coming back to Jersey Shore [Family Vacation] for a season 4, if there is one. And there’s a lot of reasons why, but the main reason is really … I’m just like, I just can’t do it anymore.”
Nicole, who is mom to three little ones — daughter, Giovanna, 5, Lorenzo, 7, and 7-month-old Angelo — later revealed the moment she knew she was out.
“I think when I was, like, actually forcing myself to be in a situation that I wasn’t happy in. Like, I was forcing myself to be happy, and I’m like, ‘That’s not me. I’m not genuinely happy.’ That’s when I’m like, ‘I’m out,'” she explained during an interview on The Mel Robbins Show.
Nicole admitted that she’s no longer the party girl she once was. Now, she just wants to raise her three children at home and be with her family.