Sammi insulted, Ronnie gets silent treatment on 'Jersey Shore Family Vacation' premiere

Sammi and Ronnie are back but forget about having a kumbaya moment.

Both Sammi “Sweetheart” Giancola and Ronnie Ortiz-Magro were featured on the Season 7 premiere episode of “Jersey Shore Family Vacation” on Thursday, Aug. 3. The two original cast members, who had a stormy romance on the original run of “Jersey Shore,” did not appear together. Ronnie said the other cast members are not speaking to him, and Sammi aired her grievances with the female cast members to Angelina Pivarnick, including her beef with Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi.

“I opened up a beach boutique (Sweetheart Coast in Ocean City), something different from anybody else has done. It's right on the boardwalk and shortly after that Nicole decided to open up a beach boutique (in Seaside Heights),” Sammi said. “I thought that was an insult to me.”

Sammi also took offense to comments made by Jenni “JWoww” Farley on the Barstool Sports BFF podcast.

“Jenni was mad that I commented on some influencers page and I don't know why she was mad,” Sammi said. “Why can't I talk about 'Jersey Shore'? It was a part of my life. You're not going to tell who I can talk about.”

More: 'Jersey Shore' star Sammi 'Sweetheart' Giancola opening store on Ocean City, NJ boardwalk

Sammi's problem with Deena Cortese stemmed from an Instagram live she did with Nicole during the COVID-19 lockdown.

“I was close friends with everybody … me and Deena were really close after the show and then we just went our own ways,” Sammi said. “When you guys did the reboot, I wanted no part in it. So I just went and worked on myself and they did the show and we separated.”

Sammi starred in the original run of “Jersey Shore,” filmed primarily in Seaside Heights, from 2009 to 2012. She opted out of the “Jersey Shore Family Vacation” reboot in 2018 as she wanted to “avoid potentially toxic situations,” according to one of her Instagram posts. The post was viewed as a reference to her on-again, off-again relationship with Ronnie.

“I don't know, I'm so anti-coming back,” said Sammi, 36, in a confessional on Thursday. “I had that relationship drama back then. I had some fights with girls. Like, there's a lot that comes with this but being older now, what do I have to lose?”

Sammi, a Hazlet native, is living “a normal life” with her new boyfriend, Justin May, a former employee of the now-closed Karma nightclub in Seaside Heights.

“There is someone special in my life -- his name is Justin and he's everything I could have wished for,” Sammi said. “He does not look like any of my exes but he does have muscles. We all know I have a type, you tell me everyday in my comments. We already know this. Nothing's changing with that.”

Thursday's episode depicted Angelina texting Sammi to ask her about coming back. What more likely happened is Sammi or her representative contracted 495 Productions, the producers of the show, about a return and then producers arranged for Angelina to contact Sammi on the show.

They met at Angelina's Freehold Township house, which is cohabitated by Angelina’s fiancé, Vinny Tortorella.

“It's a weird world. We're in this bubble together. Only if you're in it do you get it because no outsiders can really understand what went on,” Sammi said. “We had a bond that was unlike any other. I know they have their bonds now. They've been doing this for a long time, but I still remember the bond we had when I filmed when I was 22. I remember fun times with them and the laughs we had and it's a time of my life I really loved.”

Ronnie visited Mike “The Situation” Sorrentino at his Holmdel home on the episode.

“I feel at peace for the first time in a lot of years but I know I have made my mistakes and I want to ask the roommates for forgiveness,” said Ronnie in a confessional, breaking down into tears.

He has twice been arrested on domestic abuse cases, including suspicion of intimate partner violence in April 2021 in Los Angeles. He avoided jail when a judge determined that the time he spent in treatment was significant enough to forgo a sentence behind bars. He had previously pled no contest to one count of domestic battery and one count of resisting arrest stemming from an October 2019 incident in the Hollywood Hills section of Los Angeles, when police were called to a home where he, ex-girlfriend Jen Harley and then 20-month old Ariana were staying.

Ronnie said he now has sole custody of Ariana and they have moved to Florida, where Harley has also moved to.

“We're getting along,” said Ronnie of his relationship with Harley. “I was granted full custody of Ariana but I do still let (Harley) spend time with Jen because I don't want to be that parent that breaks up the relationship between the other parent.”

Ronnie's not getting along with the other roomies. The cast doesn't return his texts.

“All of us had an issue with Ron coming back,” said Deena to the New York Post. “He did a lot of things outside of the show that none of us really appreciate.”

“I think everybody has the right to talk to you in person and figure out what's going on,” said Mike to Ronnie. “Ron coming back is a big deal but everyone was shocked from some of his actions. It wasn't just one action, it was over and over and over until those relationships were severed and non-existent.”

The cast will decamp at the Poconos on the upcoming episodes. Mike broached the idea of Ronnie and Sammi getting back together to Ronnie. It was followed by awkward laughter.

More: Bamboo Bar, Karma nightclubs in Seaside Heights to become housing, retail

There's a new member of the family. Mike and wife Lauren Sorrentino brought home baby Mia Bella Elizabeth Sorrentino on the episode. She was born Jan. 24, 2023. A son, Romeo Reign, was born in May, 2021.

“I'm over the moon,” Mike said. “I always wanted a big family. Now I'm a dad of two. I couldn't be happier.”

“Jersey Shore Family Vacation” airs 8 p.m. Thursdays on MTV.

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Chris Jordan, a Jersey Shore native, covers entertainment and features for the USA Today Network New Jersey. Contact him at @chrisfhjordan; cjordan@app.com

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Jersey Shore Family Vacation season premiere: Sammi is insulted