If you’ve been watching Jersey Shore Family Vacation, you may have found that you barely recognize the closest thing the show had to a villain in its initial iteration.
We’re talking, of course, about Mike “The Situation” Sorrentino.
When the guidos and guidettes first descended upon Seaside Heights, New Jersey back in 2009, the Sitch represented the very worst of what they had to offer.
A creature of pure ego and appetite, Sorrentino provided a lot of ammo for critics of the show’s perceived negative impact on our culture.
While his roommates certainly liked to drink, party and hookup, Mike took all of those behaviors to their most harmful extremes by being disrespectful toward women and descending into addiction.
These days Sorrentino is facing jail time for tax evasion, but the silver lining to his – ahem – situation is that
Mike is now two years sober, and as we learned following last night’s episode of Shore, he recently got engaged to longtime girlfriend Lauren Pesce.
The 35-year-old posted the above photo to his Instagram page Thursday night, along with a caption reading (of course):
“GYM TAN WE’RE ENGAGED!!”
Say what you will about the man, he’s certainly not letting go of those catchphrases.
It’s obviously an exciting time for Mike and Lauren, but there are some dark clouds looming on the horizon.
Sorrentino has yet to be sentenced for allegedly failing to pay taxes on millions in earnings.
Which means, of course, that he and Lauren might have to either push their big day back a couple years, or begin their time as husband and wife in two very different living situations.
Whatever happens, fans are obviously very happy for Mike and in perhaps the most testament to the fact that the man really has changed, is roommates are thrilled for the Sitch as well.
Jenni “JWoww” Farley, who’s been Mike’s most frequent companion on JSFV, has described him as a changed man “and the best version of himself.”
From JWoww’s lips to the sentencing judge’s ears.
Our sincere congrats go out to Mike and Lauren, and we wish them both all the best going forward.
Watch Jersey Shore online for more on the evolution of the Situation.
