Nicole ‘Snooki’ Polizzi Admits Recent ‘Jersey Shore’ Drama Played Into Her Decision to Retire From Reality Series

Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi isn’t happy with the direction Jersey Shore is headed — so she’s out. The MTV star told fans on Friday’s episode of her podcast that she’s retiring from Jersey Shore Family Vacation because she wants to spend more time with her family and because the drama of the show has become too serious as of late.

“I am not coming back to Jersey Shore for Season 4 if there is one. And there’s a lot of reasons why, but the main reason is… I just can’t do it anymore,” Polizzi said on It’s Happening With Snooki and Joey. “Our show, Jersey Shore, is about family and making fun of each other and having a good time and laughing and just knowing that it’s all in good fun. Lately, everything is so serious.”

“It’s not about a team anymore. Fans are against one another when it comes to a cast member. I don’t want that. I’m not leaving my kids for days on end to film this show when that’s the result of it. I don’t like the turnout of it. I don’t like the person I’m portrayed as. It’s getting to be a little too much,” she added.

A lot of Season 3 focused on the drama that went down between Angelina Pivarnick and Jenni “JWoww” Farley after Pivarnick got flirty with JWoww‘s boyfriend in Vegas. Pivarnick accused Polizzi of taking Farley’s side, but Snooki argued that she was not taking sides. However, it led to a major fight between the women and Polizzi storming away in tears.

On the podcast, Polizzi said she was “just not comfortable filming that show anymore with the direction it’s going,” adding that her kids have been the subject of death threats over “this freakin’ reality show that’s not even that serious. And people take it too seriously to where I’m getting death threats with my kids.”

“If I’m doing a reality show, I want it to be fun and I want it to be light-hearted and lately it’s not that,” she said. “The show is getting so dramatic. I can’t be part of something like that, especially when I’m leaving my kids and I’m hurting. I just need to do what’s best for me right now.”

Aside from the show moving away from its lighthearted and fun storylines, Polizzi said the main reason she chose to leave is because it forced her to spend too much time away from her kids, Lorenzo, 7, Giovanna, 5, and Angelo, 6 months.

“Literally, leaving my kids to film it is really hard on me. I try and quit every single day. I just hate being away from the kids,” she said. “I don’t like partying three days in a row. It’s just not my life anymore. I want to be home with the kid. It’s just really hard for me to leave the kids and film the show.”

The 32-year-old said she told her castmates about her decision, and that they were “trying to talk her off the ledge” but in the end she explained that “the show isn’t what it was when it comes to fun and just being silly. It’s all drama, and team this and team that, and death threats. I’m just not about it anymore and it’s not cool.”

“I love my roomies to death. They know that,” she said, adding that there are “no hard feelings” with them or with MTV, who she hopes to work with in the future.

“I’m not going anywhere when it comes to that and them being my family,” she said. “I’m not saying goodbye to reality tv and me working as a reality star anymore and me just going away and hiding like a hermit. I don’t want to do that, I just want to move on from the show because I don’t like the direction it’s going in with the drama and just the cattiness, I just can’t do it.”

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