The Cast of MTV’s ‘Jersey Shore’ Then and Now: Nicole ‘Snooki’ Polizzi, Vinny Guadagnino and More

MTV shook up reality TV — and introduced fans to the GTL lifestyle (a.k.a. gym, tan, laundry) — in 2009 with the premiere of Jersey Shore.

The series quickly made household names out of stars Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi, Vinny Guadagnino, Jenni “JWoww” Farley, Angelina Pivarnick, Paul “DJ Pauly D” DelVecchio, Ronnie Ortiz-Magro, Samantha “Sammi Sweetheart” Giancola and Mike “The Situation” Sorrentino. Deena Nicole Cortese joined the cast during season 3.

In 2012, after six seasons, the cast left Seaside Heights, New Jersey, to focus on different projects. Polizzi and Farley starred on Snooki & JWoww from 2012 to 2015 and DelVecchio documented his DJ journey on The Pauly D Project.

Nearly a decade after the original show premiered, most of the stars reunited in 2018 for the spinoff Jersey Shore: Family Vacation. Giancola was noticeably absent when the new show began but has since returned for season 6 in 2023.

Scroll through the gallery below to see how each cast member has changed through the years: