From Small Town Apple Orchard to MTV: Nicole ‘Snooki’ Polizzi Breaks Down the Journey You Didn’t See On TV

Pop-culture timelines tend to hinge on a single moment, and for an entire generation, Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi bursting onto Jersey Shore at 21 was one of them. Fourteen years later, she’s still the beating heart of the franchise—only now she’s doing it while running a multi-location retail business, filming, podcasting, raising three kids, and somehow still showing up to cheer competitions.

On The Toast, Snooki sits down inside her Madison, New Jersey shop to talk through the parts of her story that didn’t make the reality-TV cut: the adopted kid from an apple orchard, the shy teen who grew into a global persona, the unplanned pregnancy that changed her path, and the years she spent partying, hustling, and figuring herself out on-screen. 

How did sudden wealth change your life—and what did you spend it on first?

“I always had $20 to my name. Every single week, I would lose gas in my car and my dad would have to come pick me up. Like I literally had no money. My dad definitely helped me with putting it where it needs to be and saving. So thank God for my dad…

…I want to say cars. So I think I got—because my car was breaking down…I had a ’94 Accord and I loved it…but it wasn’t working and I needed a new car. Oh, I got a stick BMW because I always wanted to drive stick, but I bought it not knowing how to drive a stick…I bought me a car and then I bought my parents a car and then I paid off my mom’s—or my grandmother’s—mortgage.”

What were you like before ‘Jersey Shore’?

“Well, I grew up on an apple orchard. I rode four wheelers. I was like a tomboy…I did Girl Scouts. I did competitive gymnastics for 13 years…As a kid, I was definitely crazy and outgoing, but I was super shy at first. If I didn’t know you, if I was around people I didn’t know or in an uncomfortable situation, I was shy. And everyone thought I was like a b*tch. I was like, no, I’m just shy. I don’t know how to start a conversation. But then once I get cozy, the Snooki comes out…

…After high school, I started to like the Italian like Jersey Boys and I was like, I feel like I don’t belong here…I want house music and I want to go out and go to the clubs…I always knew that I was gonna move to Jersey.”

How did you end up on the show?

“I saw an ad on Facebook…that was the time where I was like I need to move to Jersey…So then I tried out for that…a lot of my friends at Poughkeepsie were trying out. I knew Diana from MySpace. So me and her were like besties on MySpace…we talked so much online that we were like bestie pen pals…

…I was really looking forward to seeing her in the house when I walked in. So when I walked in, I didn’t see any of them, and I’m like, where the fuck is everyone. And I was so annoyed.”

How was it growing up adopted in a small town?

“I always knew I was adopted. They never had to have a conversation with me. So I was like, I’m brown, you guys are white, like we don’t look alike, but I always said ‘you bought me at a store.’ Like, can you buy another one because I always wanted a brother or sister…So I always hated the fact that my parents didn’t look like me and nobody looked like me. But then when I had my kids, that kind of filled the void.”

What’s the real story with your birth parents—and why did you reach out now?

“I was like, you know what, I really want to see what my birth mom looks like, if I have any siblings…Angelina did it on the show because she found out her dad wasn’t her dad…she ended up using this genealogist who like finds people. So I was like, you know what, let me just reach out to her…

…All I wanted in the beginning was to get like a binder because I wanted to see what they look like. It started out with a text and then they were open to hearing from you…but they have no idea who I am still. They don’t know my name, they don’t know who I am. They just know that I have a good life. I think my birth mom’s grateful that she knows that I’m good because she had no idea where I went. It was a closed adoption.”

How did becoming a mom shift your life—and ‘Jersey Shore’?

“Well, it definitely wasn’t planned, but I’m grateful that it happened, obviously, because Lorenzo’s 13 now…he really changed my life for the better. I feel like if I didn’t have him, like would me and Gianni end up getting married and be together or would something happen…would I be partying and like too hard and something went wrong…It happened at the best time…

…When I got pregnant with Lorenzo and then that was the last season of Jersey Shore, I was like, ok, like what are we gonna do now? And then the network was like, ‘We want to see you become a mom.’ Let’s do Snooki and JWoww. I was like, ‘this is not how I wanted to experience my first pregnancy.’”

What actually happened the day you got arrested?

“It’s all a blur, to be honest, because I was so drunk. I remember going into the station and they were taking my picture, and I’m like, ‘Can you do that again?’ because I hated my pose. So that’s why I have two…and I was like, ‘Can it be cute?’ but they didn’t care…

…I’m gonna be like Lindsay Lohan freaking on the cover of everything, but they were very nice to me. Before they threw me in the drunk tank, they let me sit down on a spinny chair and I was spinning, eating donuts, and then they threw me in, then I passed out for a little bit. And then the roommates came to pick me up and I thought it was the next day. I thought I was in there for 24 hours. So when I get into the car, I’m like, ‘Can we go to Denny’s?’ I was like, ‘I need breakfast.’ They were like, ‘Nicole, you’ve been in there for only like one and a half hours.”

What was it like watching Mike’s addiction unfold?

“Everything that Mike wrote in the book, we had no idea. We had no idea. We knew he was on things because he would act insane, like not normal…but yeah, we had no idea that he was hiding things in his shoes, like doing all the things. It’s very heartbreaking. He was taking like 60 pills in one day, just to get by…Every time we would film, they went through every crevice of our suitcase to make sure we weren’t bringing in drugs or anything…Once we got back together and he was really working on himself, you know, we were there for him and we were proud of him…and now he just celebrated 10 years. Insane.”

To hear the full conversation with Snooki, listen to The Toast wherever you get your podcasts.

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