Jenni ‘JWoww’ Farley Says She ‘Quits’ ‘Jersey Shore: Family Vacation’ Every Season
Jenni “JWoww” Farley has been part of Jersey Shore since the show started on MTV in 2009. She’s still a member of the cast and appears in new episodes of Jersey Shore: Family Vacation, despite the desire to quit the show that pops up for her every season. “JWoww” recently opened up about feeling like she wants to leave the show and what keeps her coming back. Here’s what she had to say.
Filming ‘Jersey Shore: Family Vacation’ is ‘mentally exhausting’ for Jenni ‘JWoww’ Farley
As a guest on Barstool Sports’ BFFs podcast, Dave Portnoy asked Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi and Jenni if they still enjoyed doing the show and being in the public eye almost 15 years later. He was curious if they still participated in Jersey Shore because of the money, because they like doing it, or a combination of those two things.
“My ongoing joke is, ‘I quit every season,'” Jenni replied. “It has nothing to do with MTV, nothing to do with production. I bring my kids … but when you’re trying to juggle work, children, cameras in your face, [staying up until three a.m. and] getting up at seven to then be a parent, it’s mentally exhausting.”
“JWoww” has two children with her ex-husband Roger Mathews — a daughter Meilani and a son Greyson. Her daughter was born in 2014 and Jenni had her son two years later in 2016. They have appeared in episodes of Jersey Shore: Family Vacation in the past, including the season 6 premiere.
‘Jersey Shore’s producer helps prevent ‘JWoww’ from quitting the show
Despite wanting to quit every season, Jenni said conversations with 495 Productions owner SallyAnn Salsano help. “She’s like, ‘Is it OK to hug you, like, do you quit?'” Jenni said of the executive producer. “I’m like, ‘I’m OK, I just needed to have that mental breakdown.'”
In addition to SallyAnn’s support, the money the cast of Jersey Shore: Family Vacation earns helps keep them coming back. “Snooki” and “JWoww” agreed their reality TV earnings are “nice to have,” calling themselves “well off.”
‘Jersey Shore’ stars have quit the show before: some came back, some did not
“JWoww” has yet to officially leave the show, but more than half of the Jersey Shore crew has quit at one time or another. Angelina Pivarnick quit the show multiple times. She left the show before the first season ended, but came back to film for season 2 in Miami only to leave again.
Angelina isn’t the only cast member to leave Jersey Shore during its original run. In season 5 of the original series, Vinny Guadagnino left the show for a brief time to address his anxiety.
Jersey Shore ended in 2012, but when the reboot Jersey Shore: Family Vacation started in 2018, Sammi “Sweetheart” Giancola declined the invitation to be part of it. Technically she didn’t quit the show like Nicole did after Angelina’s wedding drama in season 3 — she just never came back. Still, we’re counting it in our round-up of cast members who did quit.
Most recently, Ronnie Ortiz-Magro quit Jersey Shore: Family Vacation to focus on his daughter and his mental health. After a brief appearance in season 5, Ronnie stopped filming to concentrate on his personal life. Ronnie still isn’t part of the show considering what Nicole and Jenni said about their roommate on the BFFs podcast.
New episodes of Jersey Shore: Family Vacation air every Thursday at 8 p.m. ET on MTV.
