‘Jersey Shore’: Ronnie’s Apology Brings the Roommates to Tears in ‘Family Vacation’ (Exclusive)

PEOPLE has an exclusive first look at Jersey Shore: Family Vacation’s midseason trailer, which features the return of Ronnie Ortiz-Magro. As Ronnie attempts to make amends with the housemates he feels he has wronged, they couldn’t be more emotional over his teary-eyed apology.

But first, the trailer sees Deena Nicole Cortese, Paul “Pauly D” Delvecchio,” Jenni “JWOWW” Farley, Vinny Guadagnino, Mike “The Situation” Sorrentino, Angelina Pivarnick and Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi welcoming returning housemate Sammi “Sweetheart” Giancola, along with the introduction of her boyfriend Justin May. Admittedly, she is “totally nervous” to bring Justin around her Jersey Shore family.

“I don’t want any like, bad vibes or old boyfriends to show up,” Giancola, 36, says in a foreboding confessional as we cut to Mike, 41, lying in bed with his wife Lauren Sorrentino, with his phone in hand, as he tells her, “Ron just texted me, said he is on his way.”

As we see a clip of the group seated around the dinner table, it would appear they’ve been made aware of Ronnie’s impending arrival. The disbelief among them is palpable.
“Oh, my God,” says Deena, as Vinny, 35, asserts, “Bring him in.”

Next, we see the elevator door slide open and a downcast Ronnie, 37, enters. As the gang gathers around the dinner table, he tearfully tells them, “I want to start by apologizing to you guys.” Nicole, 35, and Angelina, 37, then break down in tears.

“Last year I lost a lot of what I love,” continues the dad-of-one, who now has full custody of his daughter with ex-girlfriend Jen Harley.

Along with Ronnie’s emotional sit-down, elsewhere in the trailer, we see the gang continue to bond with Sammi, who marked her return to the Jersey Shore earlier this year after an 11-year break.

“Samantha, we are initiating you,” Nicole tells her in one clip as she pours red wine into a plastic cup.

We also see another clip of prankster Pauly D, 43, decorating Sammi’s bedroom with bedding printed with the infamous note from the original series.

Fans may recall the season 2 episode of Jersey Shore that first aired in 2010, in which Jenni and Nicole typed out an anonymous letter to Sammi to inform her that Ronnie had been cheating, which resulted in a series of verbal and physical altercations between the household.

Viewers were given a front-row seat to the former pair’s toxic relationship during the original show’s 6-season run, which they finally called time on after five years in 2014.

The latest season returned to MTV in August. One month prior, Sammi told PEOPLE that it was “very nerve-racking” walking into the house for the first time, having not spoken to any of her former housemates “in 10 years or however long it was,” adding that had she known her ex Ronnie would be there. “I probably wouldn’t have came back if I knew he was still on the show, honestly,” she said.

Ronnie exited the show in 2021 to work on his mental health and sobriety, which opened the door for his ex-girlfriend Sammi’s surprise return to the MTV series this year. He made a cameo appearance in 2022 before returning for a surprise appearance on an episode airing in March.