After over ten years away from the show, Sammi “Sweetheart” Giancola has recently opened up about what it was like to return to filming Jersey Shore with her ex-boyfriend, Ronnie Ortiz-Magro.
In an exclusive conversation with the outlet TooFab, Sammi talked about coming back to star with the rest of the cast in Jersey Shore Family Vacation. In particular, she shared how she felt about having to be reunited with her ex, Ronnie.
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Sammi made it clear that she was not too thrilled about having to come face-to-face with Ronnie again. She told TooFab, “Like, it’s not ideal. I wasn’t looking forward to it, but I did know that if I were to come back on this show again, that this could be a possibility.”
Sammi added, “I mean, it’s a given. And I was like, listen, this person doesn’t affect my life anymore.” She even described being back around Ronnie as being like “just working with a co-worker.”
However, she also made it clear that it wasn’t plain sailing. Sammi told TooFab, “I’m not happy about it, but it is what it is, and you’re gonna see me kind of navigate through that a little bit on this season.” Sammi gave her interview ahead of Jersey Shore’s long-awaited return to the screen.
Unlike her fellow cast members, it took Sammi years to come back for Family Vacation. The follow-up series started way back in 2018, but it wasn’t until the sixth season that Sammi felt comfortable taking part. According to TooFab, Sammi refused to return until Ronnie stepped away from the show following legal and mental health issues.
Sammi Doesn’t Need an Apology
Ronnie later returned to Family Vacation and apologized to his co-stars for what he had put them through. However, Sammi reportedly “avoided” him. She also told TooFab that she was not hoping for a similar apology from Ronnie herself.
When asked, she said, “Hell no! There’s nothing that needs to be said.” She continued, “Things were said back when we broke up. There’s nothing that needs to be said at all from his end to me, from my end to him.”
She went on to say that she was “good” and that she did not “need closure.” Sammi even seemed to hint that there could be peace between the former couple in the Jersey Shore house.
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She said, “You’re there. I respect you because you’re there. This is also his family too. He’s just a co-worker, and I’m not here for a bad time or bad vibes.” She concluded, “I’m going my way, and he’s going his way, and that’s hopefully how it’s gonna stay.”
In the previous season of Family Vacation, Ronnie had also talked about how things were between him and Sammi. TooFab reported on a conversation with Snooki Polizzi, where Ronnie said, “She’s a great person, she’s a great woman, she was always good to me.”
Referring to Sammi’s new boyfriend Justin May, Ronnie said that he was “happy” that his ex was able to find “someone who can give her what I wasn’t ready to give her.” How well the ex-couple will get on in the newest season of the show remains to be seen.
