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Snooki and Jionni LaValle’s Marriage Has Had Its Ups and Downs — But They’re Rock Solid Today
We’ve come a long way since the days when Snooki couldn’t find the beach! Now that the Jersey Shore crew is reuniting on April 5 for Jersey Shore: Family Vacation, fans of the debauchery-driven reality series are reminded just how much has changed for Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi and the rest of her cast-mates. For starters, Nicole, 30, is now married to Jionni LaValle, 31 — whom she infamously met on the show — and together they have two kids, Lorenzo and Giovanna.
But despite the fairytale ending, many fans will never forget that Nicole and Jionni haven’t been without their ups and downs — especially during their marriage. Even recently, there’s been speculation that the couple is experiencing trouble in paradise because he won’t be appearing alongside his wife on the MTV spin-off show.
It’s an accusation that Jionni quickly put to bed, telling fans, “Nicole and I are doing great and became even stronger together while raising our beautiful kids. HOWEVER you will not see me on her reality show,” he wrote. “Being a reality star was never something I wanted to be when I grew up. I own my own business and work hard at it, that’s what I do. My wife is a reality star and works hard at that, that’s what she does. We ARE not divorced.”
Sadly, it’s not the first time fans have been worried about Snooki and Jionni’s marriage. Keep reading for a recap of all Snooki and Jionni have endured together.
The couple got married in 2014, after having two children together.
Nicole and Jionni met in Seaside Heights, NJ while the reality star was filming Jersey Shore in 2010. It was Season 3 of the series but Jionni had appeared on an earlier episode in which he helped his uncle rescue a family member from the Jersey Shore House and the inevitable hook-ups that went with it. When a drunken Snooks couldn’t remember her future husband’s name, she decided to call him “Bernard.”
The couple welcomed their first child together, Lorenzo Dominic LaValle, on Aug. 26, 2012. Two years later on Sept. 24, 2014, they had another baby, this time a girl named Giovanna Marie LaValle.
Lorenzo and Giovanna’s parents wed in a Great Gatsby-themed wedding ceremony in NJ in November 2014. Snooki’s BFF Jenni “JWoww” Farley served as her Maid of Honor and their other cast mates Sammi “Sweetheart” Giancola and Deena Cortese were also bridesmaids.
Nicole and Jionni’s relationship was rocked by an Ashley Madison scandal.
Scandal struck in 2015 when a hacker issued a list of all the names associated with Ashley Madison accounts. The purpose of the website Ashley Madison was to facilitate affairs for married people looking for new sexual partners. News broke that Jionni’s e-mail address was associated with an account but to this day, Nicole has denied this rumor has any merit.
Also mentioned in the scandal was Anna Duggar’s husband, 19 and Counting Star Josh Duggar, who admitted to making an account with Ashley Madison. Snooki put Anna on blast on her podcast, publicly begging her to leave him.
“[Josh] actually made a comment, and he called himself a hypocrite, and he said, ‘I’m ashamed of myself,'” Nicole recalled. “And his wife is still standing by him! It’s like, ‘What the f— is wrong with you? Like, what are you doing?'”
Snooki denied the allegations publicly… a lot.
The mama of two — never one to stay silent about a rumor in the press — vehemently defended both herself and her husband on her podcast Naturally Nicole.
“I’m lucky if he knows how to even use a computer, yet go on Ashley Madison to cheat on me,” she said. “It’s so stupid, and we honestly think, like, someone is trying to f— with us because this isn’t the first story that Jionni’s been cheating on me. But all these stories never have evidence. There’s never a photo, there’s never text messages, there’s nothing,” she added.
When the story first broke, she also went on a rant on Instagram, insisting she didn’t want to give an official comment or fuel the story. Nicole uploaded a photo from her wedding day and wrote, “This morning when I got a call from my publicist that a story was going to be printed on my husband ‘allegedly’ signing up on Ashley Madison, I laughed and said let’s not even comment and give the story any juice, because it couldn’t be any further from the truth. But now seeing how it’s the ‘news of the day’ and everyone is wondering what I think about it, here it is. Jionni is the the most humble, respectful, and most loyal souls I know. I mean hello, that’s why I married him.”
She continued, “He’s a stand up guy who loves his family more than anything in this world. The fact that the tabloids can deliberately make stories up and print things like ‘Jionni LaValle ALLEGEDLY and MAY HAVE signed up on Ashley Madison’ is absurd. I can see if there is proof in the story to make it legitimate, but to accuse my husband of something he had no idea about… HOW IS THAT LEGAL? I really didn’t even want to acknowledge this absurd story, but when my family is being bashed for no reason- mama bear is gonna say what’s up. So no, my husband didn’t sign up on that website to cheat on me.”
“Honestly, if he wanted to cheat, he would go out and do it. Not sign up on a website and pay for it,” she added.
More drama came for the couple… from their own inner circle.
Just when it seemed like the storm had passed, rain clouds came in the form of Nicole’s best friend JWoww’s husband: Roger Mathews. Underneath Jionni’s Instagram post in which he explained he wouldn’t be on reality TV anymore, 41-year-old Roger wrote, “Much respect to you and Sammy.” When a fan questioned Roger if he meant to write “Nicole,” he said, “No, I meant Sammy.”
Roger’s comment caused much confusion for fans. Was this a dig at Jionni? Was Roger accusing him of cheating with a girl named Sammy? Who the heck is Sammy? While we haven’t gotten any confirmation or clarification, we figure if Nicole’s not addressing it, then it’s not worth our time dissecting.
But everything’s good now…
Regardless of the confusion, it’s clear that Jionni and Nicole are doing better than ever and their marriage isn’t in jeopardy. Just a few days ago, Nicole called her hubby a “stud muffin” on Instagram in a sweet birthday post.
“Happy birthday to this stud muffin… so lucky to have you! You’re an amazing dad & my best friend,” she wrote.
