‘Jersey Shore’ star ‘The Situation’ had to ‘force accountability’ after prison, credits sobriety for success

Mike “The Situation” Sorrentino knows one thing is true: “Everyone loves a good comeback story.”

Throughout hundreds of shows and nearly 15 years after the debut of the “Jersey Shore,” millions of fans have witnessed the supreme highs and deepest lows of “The Situation.”

He was faced with the consequences of his fame in 2014 when he, along with his brother Marc, were indicted for conspiring to defraud the United States government for allegedly failing to pay taxes on almost $9 million in income between 2010-2012. In 2018, he pled guilty to one count of tax evasion and then served an eight-month prison sentence. 

“I think I was fortunate to use the fact that I knew the world was watching, and I used that to force accountability on myself,” Sorrentino exclusively told Fox News Digital.

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Mike "The Situation" Sorrentino exclusively shared with Fox News Digital how he’s committed to being the best person he can be for himself and his family.
(John Lamparski)

“At one particular point I had nothing, but I had kindness. It costs $0 to be a kind person,” he said. “Regardless of the millions of dollars that I have earned over the many years, at one particular point, I went broke.

“When I was homeless, and I had nothing, and I was addicted and dependent on drugs, I had to dig myself out of that. I happily did that because I knew that that hard work and that sacrifice that I put into those moments — in those days, in those weeks, in those years — would eventually make me stronger. And, it did.”

Sorrentino battled an addiction to prescription painkillers for years and was in and out of rehab programs before finally deciding to focus on himself and his sobriety.

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“I was just so sick and tired of being sick and tired. I was a young kid with a good heart, but I was making all the wrong choices, and eventually, after trial and error and more trial and error, I realized that I had an obsessive personality. I was feeding myself negativity,” he said. “They say ‘the wolf that you feed wins,’ and for a very long time, I was feeding the ‘bad wolf.’ I learned that I cannot do that.

“Once I started to feed the ‘good wolf’ as they say, and take all the negativity out of my life … my life started to get better.

“I was just so sick and tired of being sick and tired. I was a young kid with a good heart, but I was making all the wrong choices.”

— Mike "The Situation" Sorrentino

"Jersey Shore" debuted in 2009 and has since featured spinoffs and special features.
(Jason Merritt)

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“I didn’t mind fixing things and making amends. It really just came down to I wanted more for myself,” Sorrentino said. “I wanted to be good to my mom. I wanted to be a good son, and I wanted to be a good significant other. I wanted to be a good friend. I wanted to be a good worker. I wanted the networks like MTV and other networks around the world watching to be like they fell in love with me once, and I wanted them to be like, ‘Wow, now we trust this kid. This kid … he has what we thought he had.’ It was a one day at a time thing.”

His attitude of taking things one day at a time has now given him seven years of sobriety.

“I forced myself to be accountable. A lot of people … can go the other way, and it happens all the time, but I just made that decision. I had tried other ways beforehand,” he said. “I had tried various ways of substitution and various ways of doing it my way, which eventually led me to the same destruction or downfall, and then finally had given up. I had sort of surrendered and got out of my own way. 

"The Situation" received his nickname for his abs, which he said created a "situation."
(Jon Kopaloff)

“I totally committed to just doing the next right thing. You know, accountability, being kind, being my best self. Slowly, over years and years and years of continuing to do the next right thing, even when you think maybe I should do this, or maybe I should do that, or no one’s looking. I continue to stay with that, and it has led me to where I want to be.”

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Taking accountability for his actions is something he quickly became familiar with in 2019, when he surrendered to the Federal Correctional Institution in Otisville, New York, to serve eight months behind bars for tax evasion. He also had to complete 500 hours of community service and was ordered to pay more than $100,000 in restitution in addition to a $10,000 fine. 

He married longtime girlfriend Lauren “Laurens” Pense in 2018, and they welcomed their first child, a son named Romeo Reign, in May 2021. She gave birth to their daughter on Tuesday.

“We couldn’t be more excited to announce the arrival of our sweet baby girl, Mia Bella Elizabeth Sorrentino,” they shared exclusively with Fox News Digital. “We appreciate everyone’s well-wishes and are so thrilled to start this new chapter as a family of four.”

The "Jersey Shore" followed a newly formed group of friends living in a summer house on the beach in Seaside Heights.
(Jason LaVeris)

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Mike’s grateful for the journey, and knows his most important job is to show up as the best version of himself. 

“This attitude definitely helps me be a dad tremendously because I’m constantly trying to be my best self,” he said. “I put the baby to bed. I feed the baby. I help my wife cook. I help my wife clean. We’re a team. I don’t have any preconceived notions or anything of you’re supposed to do this, or you’re supposed to do that. 

“I’m there to be my best self. I’m there for me and my wife to be our best unit as a team, to be our best family, and also give my family the love that they deserve … And I think I’m doing a great job of that.”

Sorrentino joked his wife could “barely sleep” in her final trimester of pregnancy, but he was beyond excited to continue seeing his dreams become reality.

“We couldn’t be more excited to announce the arrival of our sweet baby girl, Mia Bella Elizabeth Sorrentino. We appreciate everyone’s well-wishes and are so thrilled to start this new chapter as a family of four.”

— Mike and Lauren Sorrentino

Mike "The Situation" Sorrentino and wife Lauren Pesce have been married four years and will soon welcome their second child. 
(Jason LaVeris)

“This attitude definitely helps me be a dad tremendously because I’m constantly trying to be my best self.”

— Mike "The Situation" Sorrentino

“I always wanted a big Italian family. … I’m living my dream right now by having a family and by being a sober dad and a loyal husband,” he said. “I’m doing everything that they said I couldn’t do. They said I couldn’t even be on reality TV this long. They said I wouldn’t be sober. They said I wouldn’t last in prison … on and on and on.

“I keep proving everyone wrong. But what’s most important to me is, is not only obviously the sobriety, but being the family man, because that right there is me.

“I’m living my best life. That other life — the fast life of the parties and the fame and the money — I had it. It was fun, but it’s not self-sustainable, and you’re never going to last, you know?”

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Being a family man is also a little bit easier now that most of the “Jersey Shore” group has kids. He joked that JWoww and Snooki have already told him to “get ready” for what’s to come with two kids in the house.

“They said, ‘You know, one is doable, and No. 2, the party just gets started,” he recalled. “And No. 3, you’re outnumbered. Three was always my magic number, but I want to see if we can handle two first.”

“I took a chance on myself and on reality TV 15 years ago, and that chance ended up paying off.”

— Mike "The Situation" Sorrentino

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While things have certainly changed from the “Karma” nightclubbing days in Seaside Heights, he said “Jersey Shore” is “the gift that keeps giving.” The group is hitting the road to tour the United States for season 6 of “Jersey Shore: Family Vacation.” 

“I couldn’t be happier and more grateful to be a part of it,” he said. “There’s pregnancies and baptisms, weddings and divorces. Life keeps moving, and we keep filming, and the fans are loving it.

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“It has been 15 years, and I do joke and say, ‘We turned 15 minutes of fame into 15 years,’ which is facts. But I think, at the end of the first season, which I know now is manifestation, I said, ‘I want this thing forever.’ 

“So inadvertently I had said that, and now the ‘Jersey Shore’ and ‘Jersey Shore: Family Vacation’ is a brand. ‘The Situation’ is a brand, a household name, and the fans are watching us grow up, and we’re growing up with the fans as well. So it’s really an amazing thing. I took a chance on myself and on reality TV 15 years ago, and that chance ended up paying off.”