Nicole Elizabeth LaValle (

née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...

Polizzi; born November 23, 1987), best known by her nickname Snooki, is an American

reality television Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 1 ...

personality. She is best known for being a cast member of the

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

reality show ''

Jersey Shore The Jersey Shore (known by locals simply as the Shore) is the coastal region of the U.S. state of New Jersey. Geographically, the term encompasses about of oceanfront bordering the Atlantic Ocean, from Perth Amboy in the north to Cape May P ...

'' and starring in ''

Snooki & Jwoww ''Snooki & Jwoww'' (sometimes rendered ''Snooki & JWOWW'' in print and online sources) is an American reality television series on MTV starring Nicole " Snooki" Polizzi and Jennifer " JWoww" Farley. It is the second of three spin-offs of ''Jersey ...

'' and '' Jersey Shore: Family Vacation''. Upon appearing on ''Jersey Shore'' in 2009, Snooki gained popularity, leading to numerous talk show appearances, web and television series participation and hosting, and a large social media following. She reportedly earned $150,000 per ''Jersey Shore'' episode by the last season. She also appeared as the guest hostess for ''

WWE Raw ''WWE Raw'', also known as ''Monday Night Raw'' or simply ''Raw'', is an American professional wrestling television program produced by WWE that currently airs live every Monday at 8 p.m. ET on the USA Network in the United States. The show f ...

'' in 2011 and competed at

WrestleMania XXVII WrestleMania XXVII (also written as WrestleMania 27) was the 27th annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). It was held for wrestlers from the promotion's Raw and SmackDow ...

that same year.

Early and personal life

Snooki was born in

Santiago, Chile Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated region, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, whose ...

. She was adopted when she was six months old and was raised by Italian-American parents, Andy and Helen Polizzi. Snooki has taken two DNA tests to determine her genetic background. In 2014, the first DNA test stated that she had European, Asian and Jewish ancestry. Five years later, in January 2019, she took another DNA test which stated that she is of

Native Chilean Indigenous peoples in Chile or Native Chileans form about 10% of the total population of Chile. According to the 2012 census, 2,000,000 people declare having indigenous origins. Most Chileans are of partially indigenous descent, and the term an ...

and European descent. Snooki's father is a

volunteer firefighter A volunteer fire department (VFD) is a fire department of volunteers who perform fire suppression and other related emergency services for a local jurisdiction. Volunteer and retained (on-call) firefighters are expected to be on call to respond t ...

and auto-salvage supervisor, and her mother is an office manager. Snooki lives in

Florham Park, New Jersey Florham Park is a borough in Morris County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States census, the borough's population was 11,696, Snooki received her nickname, Snooki, in middle school, when her friends named her after "Snookie", a male character in ''

Save the Last Dance ''Save the Last Dance'' is a 2001 American teen dance film produced by MTV Films, directed by Thomas Carter and distributed by Paramount Pictures. The film stars Julia Stiles and Sean Patrick Thomas as a teenage interracial couple in Chic ...

'', because she was the first of her friends to kiss a boy. She grew up and attended school in

Marlboro, New York Marlboro is a hamlet (and census-designated place) in Ulster County, New York, United States. The population was 3,669 at the 2010 census. Marlboro is in the southeastern part of the town of Marlborough, located in the southeastern corner of the ...

, where she was a cheerleader. During high school, she suffered from an

eating disorder An eating disorder is a mental disorder defined by abnormal eating behaviors that negatively affect a person's physical or mental health. Only one eating disorder can be diagnosed at a given time. Types of eating disorders include binge eating d ...

, at one point weighing . Snooki attended

Brookdale Community College Brookdale Community College is a public community college in the Lincroft section of Middletown Township, in Monmouth County, New Jersey, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1967, the college also has regional locations in Neptune Township, ...

after graduating from

Marlboro High School Marlboro High School is a four-year comprehensive public high school located in Marlboro Township, in Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States, serving students in ninth through twelfth grades as one of the six secondary schools of the Fre ...

, where she studied to become a veterinary technician. In March 2012, Snooki announced her engagement to Jionni LaValle. Snooki gave birth to the couple's first child, Lorenzo Dominic LaValle, on August 26, 2012. Snooki appeared on the front page of the March 2013 issue of ''

Us Weekly ''Us Weekly'' is a weekly celebrity and entertainment magazine based in New York City. ''Us Weekly'' was founded in 1977 by The New York Times Company, who sold it in 1980. It was acquired by Wenner Media in 1986, and sold to American Media Inc ...

'', claiming to have lost 42 pounds post pregnancy. Her second child, Giovanna Marie LaValle, was born September 26, 2014, weighing in at 6lbs 7oz. On November 29, 2014, Snooki married Jionni LaValle. In October 2016, Snooki announced she had had a

breast augmentation Breast augmentation and augmentation mammoplasty is a cosmetic surgery technique using breast-implants and fat-graft mammoplasty techniques to increase the size, change the shape, and alter the texture of the breasts. Augmentation mammoplasty is ...

to obtain a C cup. On November 22, 2018, she announced via her

Instagram Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...

that she was expecting her third child. On December 13, 2018, she revealed, via

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...

, that she would be having another boy, who would be named Angelo. On May 30, 2019, Snooki gave birth to her third child, Angelo James LaValle. On February 14, 2021, Snooki revealed that she had tested positive for

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quick ...

and was self-isolating from the rest of her family, all of whom had tested negative.

Career

Reality television

first introduced Snooki in ''Is She Really Going Out with Him?'', a show that focused on women dating obnoxious or arrogant men. Snooki and her boyfriend, Justin, appeared in episode 14, "Jerz Pud". Snooki became part of the reality TV series ''Jersey Shore'' after being scouted by the casting director, Josh Allouche, an employee of

Doron Ofir Doron Ofir is a casting director and president of Doron Ofir Casting, a division of Popular Productions, Inc. He has worked on various reality television programs, including MTV's ''Jersey Shore'' and ''A Shot at Love with Tila Tequila'', HGTV's '' ...

Casting. ''The New York Times'' identified her as "the breakout member of the cast". According to ''The New York Times'', her actions on the show have caused her to be the target of public disdain while having a "strange appeal". One reported measure of her appeal was that she was one of the most popular celebrity Halloween costumes of 2010. At the height of the show's popularity, Snooki was reportedly earning $150,000 per episode. While shooting in Seaside Heights, Snooki was punched in the face by New York City school gym teacher Brad Ferro. The punch, while shown in previews, was blacked out during showings of the episode. Videos of the punch went viral on

and were featured in many news media. After the punch was made public, Snooki's appearance fees increased from $2,000 per event to $10,000 per event. In 2011, Snooki and her ''Jersey Shore'' costar,

Jennifer Farley Jennifer Lynn Farley (born February 27, 1986), also known as JWoww, is an American television personality. She first came to prominence as one of the eight main cast members in the MTV reality series ''Jersey Shore'', and is a main cast member ...

, signed a contract to star in a spin-off show, ''

'', which premiered on

in June 2012. The first season followed Snooki and Farley moving in together,"PHOTOS: Snooki, JWoww move into old Jersey City firehouse for 'Jersey Shore' spinoff"

NJ.com NJ.com is a digital news content provider and website in New Jersey owned by Advance Publications. According to a report in ''The New York Times'' in 2012, it was the largest provider of digital news in the state at the time. In 2018, comScore r ...

. February 26, 2012. and they describe their show like a modern-day ''

Laverne & Shirley ''Laverne & Shirley'' (originally ''Laverne DeFazio & Shirley Feeney'') is an American sitcom television series that played for eight seasons on ABC from January 27, 1976, to May 10, 1983. A spin-off of '' Happy Days'', ''Laverne & Shirley'' st ...

''. 495 Productions filmed the first season over the course of six weeks, at a former two-story firehouse located near Grove and Mercer Streets in

Jersey City, New Jersey Jersey City is the second-most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, after Newark."Snooki confirms pregnancy, first thought was 'I've been drinking'"
''

New York Post The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates NYPost.com, the celebrity gossip site PageSix.com, and the entertainment site Decider.com. It was established ...

''. March 7, 2012 The show chronicled her days in pregnancy and early years in motherhood and ran for four seasons before concluding in February 2015. In early 2016, Snooki starred with her husband on the f.y.i. series ''Nicole & Jionni's Shore Flip''. Since November 2015, Snooki has starred with Farley on the web series ''Snooki & Jwoww: Moms With Attitude'' produced by

AwesomenessTV Awesomeness (abbreviation of AwesomenessTV) is an American-based film and television studio as well as a multi-channel based multilingual television network owned by Paramount Digital Studios, a division of Paramount Global. Established in June ...

. The show wrapped its second season in late 2017. On January 28, 2016, it was announced that she would be a contestant on ''

The New Celebrity Apprentice ''The New Celebrity Apprentice'' (also known simply as ''The Apprentice'') was the eighth and final installment of the reality game show ''The Celebrity Apprentice'', thus making it the fifteenth and final installment of ''The Apprentice'' as a w ...

''.

''Dancing with the Stars''

On September 4, 2013, it was announced on ''

Good Morning America ''Good Morning America'' (often abbreviated as ''GMA'') is an American morning television program that is broadcast on ABC. It debuted on November 3, 1975, and first expanded to weekends with the debut of a Sunday edition on January 3, 1993. ...

'' that Snooki would compete on the 17th season of ''

Dancing with the Stars ''Dancing with the Stars'' is the name of various international television series based on the format of the British TV series '' Strictly Come Dancing'', which is distributed by BBC Studios, the commercial arm of the BBC. Currently the form ...

'', partnered with newcomer

Sasha Farber Sacha, Sasha, Sascha, or ''variant'' may refer to: People * Sasha (name), includes list of people with the name and the variants Sascha or Sacha Musicians * Sasha (DJ) (born 1969), born Alexander Coe * Sasha (German singer) (born 1972), born Sa ...

. They were eliminated on October 28, 2013, coming in 8th place despite receiving good scores and comments from the judges. ''Dancing with the Stars'' performances (Average: 25.0):

Other television appearances

Snooki was a presenter at the 2010

CMT Music Awards The CMT Music Awards is a fan-voted awards show for country music videos and television performances. The awards ceremony is held every year in Nashville, Tennessee, and broadcast live on the CMT (Country Music Television) channel. Voting takes ...

. On July 27, 2010, the cast of ''Jersey Shore'' appeared at the

New York Stock Exchange The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Big Board") is an American stock exchange in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is by far the world's largest stock exchange by market capitalization of its liste ...

, and Snooki rang the opening bell. Snooki and the cast of ''Jersey Shore'' appeared at the 2010

MTV Video Music Awards The MTV Video Music Awards (commonly abbreviated as the VMAs) is an award show presented by the cable channel MTV to honour the best in the music video medium. Originally conceived as an alternative to the Grammy Awards (in the video category) ...

on September 12, 2010. Snooki also appeared on TLC's ''

Cake Boss ''Cake Boss'' is an American reality television series, which originally aired on the cable television network TLC. The series premiered on April 19, 2009, and has spawned four spin-offs: '' Next Great Baker'', ''Kitchen Boss'', ''Bake You Ric ...

'' episode "Snookie, Super Anthony & a Ship" on November 8, 2010, in which she orders a cake for her mom. On November 7, 2010, Snooki appeared at the

MTV Europe Music Awards The MTV Europe Music Awards (originally named MTV European Music Awards, commonly abbreviated as MTV EMA) are awards presented by Paramount International Networks to honour artists and music in pop culture. It was originally conceived as an a ...

in Madrid, Spain. She was subsequently parodied in the ''

South Park ''South Park'' is an American animated sitcom created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone and developed by Brian Graden for Comedy Central. The series revolves around four boysStan Marsh, Kyle Broflovski, Eric Cartman, and Kenny McCormickand ...

'' episode " It's a Jersey Thing", and is frequently parodied on ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock. Michaels currently serves ...

'' by actor

Bobby Moynihan Bobby Moynihan (born January 31, 1977) is an American actor, comedian and writer who was a cast member on ''Saturday Night Live'' from 2008 until 2017. He also voiced Louie Duck on Disney's ''DuckTales'' from 2017 to 2021, Panda in ''We Bare B ...

. She also hosted the

MTV New Year's From 1998 through 2014, MTV aired New Year's Eve specials. Carrying various formats and branding, the specials were typically broadcast from MTV's One Astor Plaza studios in Times Square, and featured concert performances and coverage of the nea ...

special ''MTV's Club New Year's Eve 2013'', with

Jwoww Jennifer Lynn Farley (born February 27, 1986), also known as JWoww, is an American television personality. She first came to prominence as one of the eight main cast members in the MTV reality series ''Jersey Shore'', and is a main cast member ...

and

Jeff Dye Jeffrey Dye (born February 4, 1983) is an American stand-up comedian and actor. Early life Dye was born in 1983 in Seattle and raised in Kent, Washington. He attended Kentwood High School in Covington. Dye is of Spanish, French-Canadian, German ...

, on December 31, 2012, from

Times Square Times Square is a major commercial intersection, tourist destination, entertainment hub, and neighborhood in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It is formed by the junction of Broadway, Seventh Avenue, and 42nd Street. Together with adjacent ...

, to ring in 2013.

WWE

Snooki made an appearance on the March 14, 2011, episode of '' WWE Monday Night Raw'', where she had a segment with John Morrison,

Vickie Guerrero Vickie Lynn Benson (formerly Guerrero, née Lara;Guerrero, Eddie. ''Cheating Death, Stealing Life: The Eddie Guerrero Story'', p. 53. born April 16, 1968) is an American professional wrestling personality and manager. She is best known for her t ...

and

Dolph Ziggler Nicholas Theodore Nemeth (born July 27, 1980) is an American professional wrestler and stand-up comedian. He is currently signed to WWE under the ring name Dolph Ziggler, where he performs on the Raw brand. After a prolific career in amateur ...

. During the segment she slapped Vickie, starting a feud with the couple. Later at night she got into a brawl with LayCool, which led to the formation of a six-person Mixed Tag Team match at

. Snooki made an appearance on the March 28, 2011, episode of '' WWE Monday Night Raw'' in a segment where Snooki introduces

Trish Stratus Patricia Anne Stratigeas (; born December 18, 1975) better known by the ring name Trish Stratus is a Canadian professional wrestler, actress and yoga instructor. She is currently signed to WWE. Often regarded as one of the greatest Women's Pe ...

to the Jersey Shore, were they started a street fight with LayCool in a bar. At Wrestlemania, Snooki and her partners Trish Stratus and John Morrison won the match. On December 12, 2011, on WWE RAW, she was awarded the WWE 2011 A-Lister of the Year Slammy Award which she accepted via satellite.

Other ventures

In January 2011, Snooki's book, ''A Shore Thing'', was released; it described her search for love on the boardwalk. Despite a promotional campaign that included appearances by Snooki on '' The View'', ''

The Ellen DeGeneres Show ''The Ellen DeGeneres Show'' (often shortened to ''Ellen'' or ''The Ellen Show'') is an American daytime television variety comedy talk show that was created and hosted by its namesake Ellen DeGeneres. Debuting on September 8, 2003, it was pro ...

'', ''

Jimmy Kimmel Live! ''Jimmy Kimmel Live!'' is an American late-night talk show, created and hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, broadcast on ABC. The nightly hour-long show debuted on January 26, 2003, at Hollywood Masonic Temple in Hollywood, California, as part of ABC's ...

'', and the ''

Late Show with David Letterman The ''Late Show with David Letterman'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by David Letterman on CBS, the first iteration of the ''Late Show'' franchise. The show debuted on August 30, 1993, and was produced by Letterman's production ...

'', the book was not a sales success. It sold approximately 9,000 copies within its first month of release, during which it accumulated 16 one-star customer reviews on Amazon.com. One publishing executive said the book sold poorly because "rather than a tell-all, it was disguised as a novel." In April 2011, Snooki was paid $32,000 to speak at

Rutgers University Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College, and was ...

. Topics she spoke about included what being a celebrity is like and what she thinks is important in school, including the advice: "Study hard, but party harder". Some students complained the school's money would have been better used on speakers other than Snooki. Rutgers spokesman Steve Manas responded that the extension of the invitation to Snooki resulted from canvassing by students, who indicated whom they wanted to invite. Over 1,000 people attended Snooki's engagement. On October 25, 2011, Snooki's second novel, ''Confessions of a Guidette'', was released with

Gallery Books Gallery Publishing Group is a general interest publisher and a division of Simon & Schuster which houses the imprints Gallery Books, Pocket Books, Scout Press, Gallery 13, and Saga Press. Jen Bergstrom is the Senior Vice President and Publisher. ...

. The novel was marketed as a part-

memoir A memoir (; , ) is any nonfiction narrative writing based in the author's personal memories. The assertions made in the work are thus understood to be factual. While memoir has historically been defined as a subcategory of biography or autobiog ...

, part-

guide A guide is a person who leads travelers, sportspeople, or tourists through unknown or unfamiliar locations. The term can also be applied to a person who leads others to more abstract goals such as knowledge or wisdom. Travel and recreation Ex ...

of how to "rock it

Jersey Jersey ( , ; nrf, Jèrri, label= Jèrriais ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey (french: Bailliage de Jersey, links=no; Jèrriais: ), is an island country and self-governing Crown Dependency near the coast of north-west France. It is the ...

-style. Snooki's third novel, ''Gorilla Beach'', was released on May 15, 2012. It is a sequel to Snooki's first novel, ''A Shore Thing''. In January 2012, Snooki's Team Snooki Boxing co-promoted a cooperative venture with Final Round Promotions, a boxing card at

Resorts Casino Hotel Resorts Casino Hotel is a hotel and casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Resorts was the first casino hotel in Atlantic City, becoming the first legal casino outside of Nevada in the United States, when it opened on May 26, 1978. The resort com ...

in Atlantic City, featuring Irish featherweight boxer

Patrick Hyland Patrick Joseph Hyland (born 16 September 1983) is an Irish former professional boxer from Dublin. He competed at featherweight and super featherweight. Professional career Hyland turned professional in September 2004 in the City West Hotel, ...

fighting and winning in the main event before a capacity crowd. Hyland's two brothers Eddie and Paul, also boxers, appeared in preliminary bouts. The event attracted considerable publicity in the boxing press.

Legal troubles

On July 30, 2010, Snooki was arrested in

Seaside Heights, New Jersey Seaside Heights is a borough in Ocean County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the borough's population was 2,887,disturbing the peace Breach of the peace, or disturbing the peace, is a legal term used in constitutional law in English-speaking countries and in a public order sense in the several jurisdictions of the United Kingdom. It is a form of disorderly conduct. Public ord ...

, disorderly conduct, and criminal annoyance of others. In a September 8

plea bargain A plea bargain (also plea agreement or plea deal) is an agreement in criminal law proceedings, whereby the prosecutor provides a concession to the defendant in exchange for a plea of guilt or ''nolo contendere.'' This may mean that the defendant ...

in which the latter two charges were dropped, Judge Damian G. Murray sentenced her to a $500 fine and community service. In handing down the sentence, he characterized Snooki as "a

Lindsay Lohan Lindsay Dee Lohan ( ; born July 2, 1986) is an American actress and singer. Born in New York City and raised on Long Island, Lohan was signed to Ford Models at the age of three. Having appeared as a regular on the television soap opera '' An ...

wannabe". Her arrest was taped during production of season three of ''Jersey Shore''. On May 31, 2011, in

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico ...

, Italy, Snooki was briefly taken into custody by local police after the car she was driving collided with a parked traffic police car. According to Italian police, Snooki was cited and released. Two police officers sustained minor injuries. In late 2011, Snooki sued SRG Ventures, a licensing company she had signed with a year earlier to bring out Snooki-branded merchandise such as watches, shoes, lingerie, and school supplies, for

breach of contract Breach of contract is a legal cause of action and a type of civil wrong, in which a binding agreement or bargained-for exchange is not honored by one or more of the parties to the contract by non-performance or interference with the other part ...

. She alleged the company had failed to adequately seek such licensing opportunities. The company countersued, alleging she and her manager had undermined its efforts by negotiating directly with manufacturers and delaying their decisions.

Filmography

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* * {{Authority control 1987 births American adoptees Brookdale Community College alumni Chilean emigrants to the United States Hispanic and Latino American people Living people Participants in American reality television series People from Santiago People from Marlboro, New York People from Florham Park, New Jersey The Apprentice (franchise) contestants