Vinny Guadagnino of MTV’s hit reality show “Jersey Shore” talks to us about bullying, misconceptions, and the “Jersey Shore” – everything from watching himself on TV to the way the show is edited (or not edited). “Everything you see that happens – we did. You can’t complain and say ‘oh I wasn’t like that’ or ‘I didn’t do that’ because if you did it, you did it. If they show it, you did it!”
Check out the interview below, and tune in to the season finale Thursday, October 20th on MTV!
What can you tell us about the finale?
They are going to show us sight-seeing through Florence which is cool because I actually really enjoyed it, and I think it’s going to be funny, too – picture some of the cast members learning about the history of Florence! It’s pretty comical because we aren’t really history buffs. I think it’s going to put an ending to the chapter of Italy and all the crazy stuff that’s happened.
Best memory in Italy:
Probably when we went to Sicily and I got to visit my family for the first time. It was tough being away from my family and being away from America for that long but other than that I enjoyed myself over that.
Are you looking forward to the Live Reunion following the finale? Do you get to see the rest of the cast very often?
We do see each other, however me and Pauly stay the closest. I talk to Deena as well, and the rest of them I talk to once in a while. It’s not like a crazy reunion like “Omg I haven’t seen you in so long”. We do see each other once in a while.
What is the biggest misconception about yourself and the show in general?
For myself my biggest misconception would be to judge me based on what you think the Jersey shore is. If you watch the show you realize that I’m my own character. I’m my own way; I don’t even fit into the stereotype at all. I feel like people feel like we are representing NJ or Italian people, but really the Jersey shore is just a place that we’re going – we aren’t even from NJ, we’re just going there to party. The cameras are following our lives specifically, not the lives of Italians in general and NJ residents in general. So that’s a big misconception. We have nothing to do with representing a whole race of people. We are just ourselves.
Are you ever surprised with the way each episode is edited?
The show is 100% not scripted, we get thrown in there, and they film us 24hrs a day for a couple months and we don’t talk to the producers –well very little. But the only time I get that feeling is maybe when I feel like ‘oh man I wish they showed this’ or ‘oh that happened there but they didn’t show it’ or ‘they cut to this scene too quick’, but everything you see that happens – we did. So it’s real…we actually did that so you can’t complain and say ‘oh I wasn’t like that’ or ‘I didn’t do that’ because if you did it you did it. If they show it, you did it!
Do you ever get embarrassed watching yourself on the show?
For the most part I don’t do anything too outlandish that would make me really embarrassed. I do funny things once in a while, but that’s just me partying as a kid – I know that. I know I’m not a bad person, I didn’t do anything wrong. Sometimes I can’t watch with my mother. But for the most part it’s not bad. I feel like I make the majority of the right choices.
Can you tell me a little bit about the new anti-bullying campaigns you’re involved with?
I’m involved with a couple different campaigns that all seemed to come out at the same time. One is DoSomething.org. which is “Use your fists for pumping, not punching”. Those aired in high schools and liked it because they have a far reach, especially when it comes to teens. Another campaign was with the MTV movie ‘Disconnected’ that talked about social media bullying. I loved that because I have a huge social media presence and I feel like I have a wide reach to send messages to. I also presented at the GLAAD awards this year and I took part in a GLAAD psa that just came out.
I just like how campaigns try to find me now because I’m passionate about this – I was bullied as a kid, and I have been a bully and you know, I’m only 23 so high school isn’t that long ago for me. I’m a regular dude saying “It’s okay to joke around, but don’t do it all the time. You might really hurt somebody.”
