Future fans? Reality stars from The Bachelorette, Jersey Shore and more shows are on the fence about letting their kids watch them on TV.
After filming six seasons of MTV’s Jersey Shore, four of Snooki & JWoww and three of Jersey Shore: Family Vacation, Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi has led her children to believe that she is an actress.
“I tell them that it’s not real,” the A Shore Thing author exclusively told Us Weekly of Lorenzo, Giovanna and Angelo in June 2021. “I’m just acting, like, I’m playing a role, that’s what they think. … I don’t think they’re ready for that yet. So as of right now, I am an actress.”
Two months later, the Dancing With the Stars alum told Us that her eldest son has seen clips of her MTV days on YouTube.
“He watches WWE and all of that, and sometimes he does come across Mommy running around, going crazy from clips,” Polizzi, who shares her kids with husband Jionni LaValle, said in August 2021. “He doesn’t really judge me. He’s just like, ‘Mom, you’re a mess. Mom, you’re embarrassing.’ And I’m like, ‘All right, whatever.’”
While Lorenzo doesn’t “hold [the show] against” his mom, she told Us at the time that he would “never” follow in her reality TV footsteps. Polizzi explained, “He’s like my husband. He’s like, ‘Don’t put me on camera. No pictures.’ My daughter would be [into it].”
Jenni “JWoww” Farley agreed, exclusively telling Us in April 2021 that Giovanna and her daughter, Meilani, both love being in front of cameras.
“Obviously, as a parent, you want your kids to be better than you and different than you and prosper and everything, but Meilani and Sissy … I have a feeling they’re going to end up in the entertainment industry somehow in some way,” the Rules According to JWoww author said at the time.
Jinger Duggar for her part, reflected on how 19 Kids and Counting influenced her life. “I look at those years and I’m really grateful for the opportunities that I was able to have. Like we traveled the world, things that we wouldn’t have been able to do as like a large family,” she told Us in January 2023. “At the same time, I can say I saw also those challenges. Like I just mentioned, walking through the hardest seasons of my life in the public eye and needing to give an answer. That was tough.”
Keep scrolling to see more celebrity parents debating showing their children their reality TV shows, from Real Housewives of Atlanta’s Phaedra Parks to Bachelor’s Ryan Sutter.