‘Jersey Shore’: Jenni ‘JWoww’ Farley Explains Why She Didn’t Like Anyone During Season 1
Whether you noticed it or not, Jenni “JWoww” Farley had a bit of an attitude during the first season of Jersey Shore — even she admits it! Find out why Farley came off the way she did during Season 1 of the MTV reality series.
‘Jersey Shore’ originally had a very different premise
Before Jersey Shore became the MTV reality series fans know and love, it was initially a competition show. What’s more, the original plan was to feature an all-male cast. Doron Ofir, the casting director for the original series, explained to Vulture how the show was initially titled America’s Biggest Guido. Ofir’s job was to go and find these guidos. “Whoever was throwing fists in the dance circles at nightclubs were the people we were approaching,” he said. “Mike ‘The Situation’ was the first cast. He was also featured in the original tape, so we already had an iconic archetype to build from.”
Then, things changed. Girls entered the mix at Ofir’s suggestion. “I kept saying, ‘Look, the boys preen’ — you know, they’re peacocks — ‘but the girls fight,'” Ofir added.
Jenni auditioned for ‘Jersey Shore’ unknowingly
During college, Farley worked at a nightclub called Origins in New York City, where several shows would host casting calls. When Farley’s best friend found out about a casting call for Paris Hilton’s My New BFF at Farley’s place of employment, he begged her to try out with him.
After filling out the application as a joke, Farley got a call from producers about the show that would eventually become Jersey Shore. “‘We would love you for Paris Hilton My New BFF, but we have this guido show, and we would love for you to be part of it because we totally feel like you’re a guidette,’” Farley recalled in a YouTube video explaining how she got on the show. At the time, Farley didn’t even know what a guidette was. After multiple phone calls back and forth, producers asked Farley for different footage to demonstrate her personality and lifestyle. Two years after applying for the Paris Hilton series, Farley was called to be on Jersey Shore.
Jenni hated everyone because she saw them as competition
When she first arrived at the shore house, Farley wasn’t entirely sure what she had gotten herself into. “Based on my attitude season 1, I can truthfully say I didn’t like anybody,” Farley shared on YouTube. In addition to the “no new friends” personality she adopted from Long Island, Farley said she didn’t know what the show was when it first started. “Nobody did,” she added. “I didn’t know if it was going to be a voting off show, a competition show — we had no idea we were moving in and working at a T-shirt shop!”
It’s likely producers never clarified the direction they wanted to take with the cast when they decided to pivot. “I was looking at everyone like ‘You’re my enemy — I might have to fight you for the battle of the ‘Number One Guido,'” Farley explained, referring back to show’s original concept. Farley said it took a while for her to accept that they were all truly “hanging out and getting drunk and working at a T-shirt shop,” but fans are glad she finally understood!
