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Jersey Shore producer SallyAnn Salsano gave fans an exclusive behind the scenes tour when the show was filming in Miami. In doing so, she revealed some of the hidden gems that lie within the Miami Jersey Shore house. 

Jenni 'JWoww' Farley, Nicole 'Snooki' Polizzi, Sammi 'Sweetheart' Giancola, and Angelina Pivarnick
Jenni ‘JWoww’ Farley, Nicole ‘Snooki’ Polizzi, Sammi ‘Sweetheart’ Giancola, and Angelina Pivarnick | John Parra/WireImage

‘Jersey Shore’ Season 2 wasn’t supposed to be in Miami 

Jersey Shore debuted in December 2009 and instantly became a fan favorite. Initially, MTV planned to introduce a new cast each season, similar to The Real World. 

“We were actually going to have an entire new cast come in and use the same house in Jersey, with the same jobs as well,” a former story producer who worked on the show said on Reddit.

“This was another reason that it was not a big deal that Angelina [Pivarnick] left during the first season because we were intending on having a new cast come in afterwards anyway,” they added.

When fans fell in love with Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi, Pauly DelVecchio, and Mike “The Situation” Sorrentino, 495 Productions had no choice but to bring them all back for another season — fast.

“Since the viewers fell in love with ‘Snooki,’ Pauly, and ‘The Situation,’ primarily, they wanted a new season with the OG cast,” added the former producer. “We were also going to wait until next summer, but the demand for new content was so high that we decided to film around the winter time in Miami in order to meet these demands.”

The Miami ‘Jersey Shore’ house had a special security feature 

“This house has a long walkway from the street to help with security, press, paparazzi, [and] any girls that they bring home from the bars,” Salsano revealed in a behind the scenes tour of the Miami home. 

That 10 feet of clearance helped producers get the right permissions signed by outsiders who visited with the roommates. Most importantly, Salsano said the hallway entrance to the condo helped keep all of the roommates safe. 

The ‘Jersey Shore’ roommates spent more time primping than confessing 

No reality television show is complete without a solid confessional space. The confessional room is where the cast goes to discuss how they’re feeling about a particular situation at any given time. These confessional videos differ from the interview, where production would ask specific questions regarding the drama.

During the tour, Salsano took cameras through the Jersey Shore confessional room, which featured a large Florida map in the background for the second season. 

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“They come in here like, once a day by themselves,” she explained. Salsano said the roommates often spent the first 15 minutes in the confessional primping and preparing for the camera. That’s where editing comes in. 

The ‘Jersey Shore’ roommates shared meals three times a week thanks to ‘The Situation’

The Jersey Shore cast differs from other casts Salsano has worked with in one way — they want to cook. 

“These kids do cook their own food,” Salsano admitted. “‘Situation’s a good cook. I say he’s a little bit like Rachel Ray. He kind of puts things together more than he is like from scratching things.” 

Salsano estimated that the roommates shared a meal at least three nights a week in Miami. It was hard to sit down together more than that, given their varying work schedules. 

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