‘Jersey Shore Family Vacation’: Nicole ‘Snooki’ Polizzi Reveals Why She Returned for Season 5 (Exclusive)

Jersey Shore Family Vacation is back, and so is Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi! After taking a break from the Shore family antics, Polizzi returns to party with her roommates full-time in Season 5, premiering Thursday, Jan. 6 on MTV. Prior to the new season, Polizzi opened up to PopCulture.com about her big return to Family Vacation, as her castmates opened up about the season ahead. 

“I think it was a much-needed break,” said Polizzi, who announced in 2019 she was “retiring” from the show. “But I was ready to be with the roommates again and film and just go on vacation because COVID is crazy, the world’s crazy, I miss my roomies and it was just time. So it was literally the perfect timing [and a] perfect vacation.” The MTV star even brought daughter Giovanna, 7, on the trip, making it overall “probably one of [her] favorite vacations.”

Polizzi’s castmates were just as happy to have her back, as BFF Jenni “JWoww” Farley joked the whole cast just “pretended like she never left.” Deena Cortese added to PopCulture, “We literally just were missing our meatball and now she’s back, and we got back to how it should be – all us together having a good time. It was just so nice to have my meatball back.” 

Paul “DJ Pauly D” DelVecchio added of Polizzi’s return, “Oh, it was so good. … We’re like Transformers, like when we all come together, we’re like one as a whole and I don’t think there’s nothing better. When we’re all together, it’s really great. Something special in that.”

Traveling down to the Florida Keys on vacation for Season 5, Farley teased that fans can expect “a lot of fun” and “a lot of drinking,” as well as a little drama. “There’s always drama wherever we go, but I would say the pranks are insane this season, the hangovers were insane this season,” she said. DelVecchio chimed in, “And you get to see what it was like – us filming during this weird time, you know? We were able to make it happen and I’m happy that we were able to do that.”

The DJ also noted how special it was that the vacation included some new members of the Shore family. Cortese brought along youngest son Cameron Theo, whom she welcomed in May with husband Chris Buckner, and Mike “The Situation” Sorrentino was also able to introduce the Shore family to his first child, son Romeo, who was also born in May to the reality TV personality and his wife, Lauren Sorrentino. “They’re so perfect,” Farley gushed of the youngest Shore family members. 

“Those babies are such happy little boys. I feel like Nicole and I did not get so lucky when we first had our daughters,” she joked. “They were so sweet and so beautiful to see Deena as a mom of two and Lauren and Mike as new parents and to really just live our best lives in the beautiful weather with these newborn babies.”

DelVecchio added of seeing Sorrentino become a father for the first time, “He’s an amazing dad and this is exactly what he wanted. To see his life transform the way that it has is… It’s awesome. It’s awesome to see. He sends us pictures every single day and I love seeing it.” Jersey Shore Family Vacation returns for a brand new season Thursday, Jan. 6 at 8 p.m. ET on MTV.