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Jersey Shore: Family Vacation is getting a blast from the past. After 11 years, Sammi “Sweetheart” Giancola is returning in the new season of the revival. HollywoodLife spoke EXCLUSIVELY with Sammi about how her boyfriend, Justin May, felt about her returning to the show and crossing paths with ex Ronnie Ortiz-Magro again.
“My boyfriend’s so supportive and loving,” Sammi gushed to HollywoodLife at the Jersey Shore: Family Vacation premiere event on August 2. “He was just like, ‘Do your thing. Have fun with it.’ He was really cool about it all.”
Sammi was the only original cast member to not sign on for the Jersey Shore revival in 2018. Five years into Jersey Shore: Family Vacation, the whole gang is finally back together again. “It was really exciting to be back,” Sammi said. However, she admitted that she was “nervous” about seeing everybody again after not having spoken to the cast in a “real long time.”
Angelina Pivarnick was the only one to know about Sammi’s return before filming started since she was the one who reached out after all these years. “I DMed her and I figured, why not? I feel like we all wanted her to come back. She’s an OG just like all of us,” Angelina explained. “I DMed her and she answered me around Christmas time. Then I didn’t hear from her in a while, so I didn’t know what was going on. Behind the scenes, they were figuring it out. And then all of a sudden, bam, they rolled up to my house saying that they’ve got to take my phone, and they’re driving up with her… So when I drove up with her, mouths dropped to the floor.”
It’s all about timing. Once Sammi was back in the Jerzday fold, Deena Cortese noted that it was “like she never left. It was just so great to finally have everybody back together. We always wanted Sammi to come back. A long time ago she told me to just stop asking her because she was happy. And I was like, okay, I’m going to respect that. The fact that Angelina asked her at the right time. We were all so, so happy.”
Mike “The Situation” Sorrentino told HollywoodLife that he’s “very excited for the fans to see Sam come back and tell her story, how the dynamic changes or doesn’t change. I think it’s one of our best seasons, and I think everyone is going to agree with me.” Jersey Shore: Family Vacation premieres August 3 at 8 p.m. on MTV.
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This story originally appeared on Hollywoodlife
