Are Snooki and Jionni LaValle Still Married? Inside Their 'Jersey Shore' Romance

When Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi met husband Jionni LaValle during the third season of Jersey Shore, she didn’t think he’d be more than a one-night stand. 

“I met this little Mario Brother,” she said in Episode 8, which aired in 2011. “It was kind of like a last resort, like walking out of the club, ‘Okay, you’re coming with me,’” she added. “Because, you know, I’m drunk and I just want to hook up.” 

But against all odds, Snooki and Jionni — whom she famously called “Bernard” when she couldn’t remember his name in bed — wound up married with three kids. Today, the 38-year-old has beautifully transformed from a fist-pumping, table-dancing party girl into a successful businesswoman, devoted wife and adoring mother of three.

“You’re my best friend and my soulmate and even though I want to fight you half the time because you get on my nerves (and vice versa I’m sure), I wouldn’t want to kill or be annoyed by another man but you,” Snooki wrote on Instagram to mark their one-year anniversary in 2015. 

Keep reading to learn more about their romance, from their wild Jersey Shore beginnings to their traditional life off-camera.

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Are Snooki and her husband Jionni still together? 

Yes—and going strong. The couple first got together around 2010 (with a well-documented breakup in the early days) and has been happily married since 2014.

Anyone who remembers Jersey Shore Season 4 knows it’s something of a miracle that Snooki and Jionni made it to the altar in the first place, let alone lasted all these years. The season, which took place in Italy, saw Jionni dramatically walk out on his then-girlfriend of six months after she drunkenly danced at a club (and lifted her pink leopard minidress to expose her underwear). 

“She’s embarrassing me!” he yelled. 

They eventually made up, but not without a lot of incoherent screaming and crying from Snooki — and, naturally, the drama didn’t stop there (more on that below).

Related: See the ‘Jersey Shore’ Cast Then and Now: From Seaside to ‘Family Vacation’ and Beyond

Do Snooki and Jionni live together?

The couple’s living arrangement has become one of the most asked-about questions in Jersey Shore fandom. In 2024, multiple reports surfaced claiming Snooki and Jionni were spending much of their time apart in their two New Jersey homes—with Jionni reportedly staying at their Toms River shore house while Snooki spent more time at their Florham Park home about an hour inland. Insiders even claimed that when the couple was under the same roof, they were sleeping in separate bedrooms.

Snooki has repeatedly shut down divorce speculation. After the rumors picked up steam in spring 2024, she shared family photos from a trip to Disney’s Animal Kingdom in Florida—including a smiling selfie with Jionni—seemingly putting the speculation to rest. While Snooki has been open about the fact that marriage takes work, she has consistently maintained that she and Jionni are deeply committed to both each other and the beautiful family they’ve built together.

What does Snooki’s husband Jionni do for a living?

Jionni studied sports management at Centenary College (now Centenary University) in his home state of New Jersey, and was reportedly pursuing a career in education when he met Snooki in 2010. However, it’s unclear if he ever held jobs in either field. At the present time, Jionni is a licensed contractor and longtime entrepreneur whose businesses have included an ATM company and a clothing line.

By 24, he was a reluctant reality-TV star, ultimately appearing in 20 episodes of Jersey Shore, which ended after six seasons, and 40 episodes of the spinoff Snooki & JWoww.  

He flexed his contracting skills on the short-lived 2016 series Nicole & Jionni’s Shore Flip, which saw the couple flipping homes on the Jersey Shore. He also served as an executive producer on that series.

Why isn’t Jionni on ‘Jersey Shore: Family Vacation’? 

Although his wife stuck with her reality roots now starring in Jersey Shore: Family Vacation‘s ninth and final season—Jionni has effectively retired from television. 

“He really just doesn’t want to be on camera, so I respect it,” Snooki told HollywoodLife in 2023. 

“He just really wants to be the home base when I’m filming, which I’m so thankful for,” she added. “He’s at home taking care of the kids while I go and drink wine. It’s amazing.” 

She shared a similar sentiment with the outlet the previous year, saying that the arrangement “works” for her family. “I think the fact that that aspect of my life isn’t shown is nice,” she said. “It’s private and it’s just us. When I come home, it’s just us and I don’t feel like people are always watching.”

Snooki briefly announced her own retirement from the franchise in December 2019 to focus on family. “It’s just not for me anymore,” she told People at the time. “Drama has never been my thing. Especially now, I don’t want to leave my kids and not see them for days on end to do that.”

She ultimately returned to the reboot in 2021.

Related: New Trailer Promises a Rollercoaster Final Season for ‘Jersey Shore: Family Vacation’

How did Snooki meet her husband? 

Snooki and Jionni met at Club Karma in Seaside Heights, New Jersey. She meant for him to be a one-night stand (“onto the next,” she told costar Jenni “JWoww” Farley in Season 3, Episode 9), but they reconnected off camera. By the Season 4 premiere, Snooki revealed they’d been dating for six months.

According to her interview with Larry King, it wasn’t exactly love at first sight. “I hated him at first,” she said. “I was like, ‘Oh, he’s cute, he’ll do for tonight’…Back then, it was like, whatever, the worst…I just kept thinking about him, so I was like, ‘Let me call him’ so we hung out a few times and that was that.”

Why does Snooki call Jionni ‘Bernard’?

The “Bernard” nickname was born out of one of the most cringeworthy meet-cute moments in reality TV history. After Snooki took Jionni home from Club Karma during Season 3, the pint-sized star was so drunk she couldn’t remember his actual name. When he asked her in the cab on the way home if she even remembered who he was, Snooki confidently said yes—then promptly called him “Bernard” when he asked her to say his name. The nickname stuck, and fans have been calling him “Bernard” ever since.

What season of Jersey Shore was Snooki’s husband introduced?

Jionni was introduced in the third season of Jersey Shore and he made appearances throughout the rest of the OG show’s six-season run. 

How did Jionni propose to Snooki?

Jionni put a ring on it in March 2012—and he did it in style. Snooki and Jionni had traveled to the W Hotel in Hoboken, New Jersey, where Jionni dropped to one knee on the hotel balcony and asked Snooki to be his wife.

According to the jeweler who designed the ring, Snooki had no idea the proposal was coming. The custom-built engagement ring—designed by Ben Bekdas of B&B Jewelry in Wayne, New Jersey—features a 3.02-carat princess-cut diamond surrounded by a 2-carat round-diamond eternity band, totaling more than 5 carats. The price tag? A reported $55,000. Just days after the proposal, Snooki shared even more joyful news: She was pregnant with their first child, Lorenzo.

When did Snooki and Jionni get married? 

The pair tied the knot on Nov. 29, 2014, in a Great Gatsby–themed ceremony at St. Rose of Lima Catholic Church in East Hanover, New Jersey. The couple was surrounded by hundreds of family, friends and Snooki’s Jersey Shore castmates—including Jenni “JWoww” Farley, Sammi Giancola and Deena Cortese, who served as bridesmaids. Their reception was held at The Venetian banquet hall in nearby Garfield. Noticeably absent were Mike “The Situation” Sorrentino and Vinny Guadagnino, whom Snooki may or may not have hooked up with while she was involved with Jionni (more on that below).

The couple also made sure their growing family was part of the big day. “Our children are our lives, so it would be wrong not to include them on our special day,” Polizzi told The Star Ledger.

Did Snooki cheat on Jionni with Vinny?

It depends on your definition of “cheating.” During Season 4 of Jersey Shore, Snooki did, indeed, have sex with Vinny. But it was after she told Jionni by phone that she needed a break from their relationship. They’d been fighting since the club incident, and he brought it up again, accusing her of “dancing like a pig in front of [him].”

“It was a rebound reaction,” Snooki said of her hookup with Vinny. 

Did Snooki cheat on Jionni with Mike ‘The Situation’ Sorrentino?

It seems we’ll never know. During Season 4 (the Italy season), Mike repeatedly claimed that he and Snooki hooked up while she was already with Jionni, but she denied ever cheating. The drama became a major storyline—with cast members and fans split on who to believe— and no clear proof ever surfaced either way.

Do Snooki and Jionni have kids?

Yes. The couple share three children: Lorenzo, born Aug. 26, 2012; Giovanna, born Sept. 26, 2014; and Angelo, born May 30, 2019.

Snooki opened up about motherhood in this Good Morning America segment:

Did Jionni cheat on Snooki?

There’s no proof that Jionni cheated on Snooki, but the question resurfaced in 2024 when Netflix released a documentary about the 2015 hack of Ashley Madison—a dating site marketed to people looking to have affairs. When the user database went public, names and emails were searchable online, and some fans claimed they found a match for Jionni.

Snooki shut down those claims real fast. “Jionni is the most humble, respectful, and most loyal soul I know,” she wrote on Instagram. “He’s a stand up guy who loves his family more than anything in this world.”

She went on to say that if Jionni wanted to cheat on her, he would just do it—not pay for it. “Jionni is a good guy and doesn’t need his name being tarnished. Nor does our family,” she added. “We did nothing wrong to deserve this. So with all of this said, I love you babe. And even though I’m a pain in your ass, I know you would never cheat on me. Especially on a lame ass website.”

In a January 2018 Instagram post, the typically private Jionni himself wrote: “Nicole and I are doing great and became even stronger together while raising our beautiful kids … We ARE not divorced. For the HATERS I hope this message finds you and confuses you even more about life.”

More than 15 years after Snooki met that “little Mario Brother” at Club Karma, she and Jionni are still writing their love story—one beautifully imperfect chapter at a time.

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