Love it or hate it, the Jersey Shore is one of the most talked about shows on TV. Across the country people are talking about “J-Woww” aka 23 year old Franklin Square resident Jenni Farley. To be honest, I didn’t know what to expect from the woman who got her now famous nickname from a DJ at Neptunes Beach Club, but I try never to be judgmental. I was pleasantly surprised when things got off to a great start. Jenni arrived at our studios exactly on time and ready to go. For any “celebrity”—that is a huge deal! They are almost always very late. She was professional, friendly, down-to-earth, engaging and had a great deal of warmth. It was hard to believe this was the same rough and tough girl known for punching people out on television.
Jenni admits that she and the cast never expected the show to be so “big”. She thought perhaps she’d get an extra couple of hundred fans to come to her clubs on Long Island where she was working in promotions… hoping she’d sell some of the shirts she designed to make some extra money. Now she says it takes her at least 45 minutes to get a coffee at Starbucks because so many people recognize her! She caused a near riot and had to get security involved when she and her boyfriend Tom( yes, they are still very much together) tried to go to a local movie theater last weekend.
She sure is getting a lot of attention. Jenni already received a call from Ryan Seacrest who wants to meet with her. She hit the red carpet and stage at theSpike TV Video Games Awards – where she says big stars were approaching the Shore cast wanting pictures with them! Jenni was in 6 magazines last week alone, and the calls keep on coming. She says the “biggest trip” so far was that both Playboy and Maxim called her and offered her a “celebrity pictorial” –cover and centerfold. She says she doesn’t know if she is going to do it, but that she would love to. After wearing a faux fur outside of MTV studios in Times Square on New Year’s Eve, PETA called wanting her to pose nude for a billboard. She admits she doesn’t really want her booty (or as she calls it “big butt”— J-Woww is actually really humble) exposed in the middle of Times Square. I told her we have enough traffic problems. She says boyfriend Tom is very supportive and when she is home she is treated like the same old Jenni. She jokes that Tom wants to make a tee-shirt that says “J-Woww does my laundry”! I spoke to Tom on the phone, and you can tell he adores her.
Jenni says she is constantly texting and in touch with her former Jersey Shore roommates. They all take Atlantic City trips together. Although she stopped herself when using the word “situation” in our conversation, saying she hates using that word now, Jenni says she’s close to Mike “The Situation” and sees him at least twice a week. She affectionately calls Snookie “Snickers” and says she calls her when she’s having tough times. She told me that she and the cast are trying not to do anything to screw it up, but that people are trying to dig up their pasts. She defends her friends saying that there is no stripper scandel for Mike “The Situaton” and that he was simply one of those shirtless guys that works for a club and walks around to look good. She says there is no sex tape for Nicole aka Snookie aka Snickers. Ronnie and Sammie “Sweetheart” are still very much together and are “adorable”.
As far as the drug rumors go, J-Woww says that first of all, the cast had to take drug tests. Secondly, she says, none of them do anything illegal nor would they want to. As far as rumors about her own life, she says she’s “boring”. She was accused of being on a 500 calorie diet in conjunction with the controversial HCG drops she sells on her website. She says that the drug could go hand and hand with a low calorie diet but she does not recommend that, saying “ If I was on 500 caloroies a day, I would not be this chubby, I am just letting everyone know. I am proud of me being curvy but I wouldn’t be this size if I was on 500 calories… They get that from my website cause I sell it.”. By the way, Jenni is far from chubby.
Star magazine did a story last week reporting that she had reconstructive surgery. Jenni also says that is not true. She says she was in two bad accidents as a kid and has a plastic surgeon on Long Island who helped her with scar removal surgery. She says that because there are photos of her as a chubby kid, Star magazine accused her of having stretch mark removal.
In addition to the gossip, there has been a lot of criticism of Jenni and the show. She admits she has become known as the “ boyfriend bashing b-*-*-*-* that hits everyone every show. I get the I beat up everyone, I’m the ruthless one in the house.” She says that MTV really blew up “the me and Pauly thing to bigger than what it really was”. She says that her boyfriend Tom would visit a lot and ask “how are they going to make a show about this?” She said most of the time she and “Snickers” would spend 14 hours a day sleeping and spooning on their floor mats. She said it was tough filming for over 6 weeks with no cell phones, no TV and no internet.
Although she said she felt completely natural with the cameras (until visitors would come), it was hard when they were in her face filming when she was sick, upset, or fighting with Tom and just wanted to be alone. She admits she wanted to leave a bunch of times, and that all of the cast members wanted to leave at some point. Jenni says she was actually really sick for 3 of the weeks of shooting with an upper respiratory infection and 101 fever. As far as her appearance on the show, Jenni explains, “I woke every morning and I was like I could be that girl who runs to the bathroom to do my hair and makeup everyday and I was like no, that’s not me… but I didn’t care, I was like a couple of thousand people are going to watch it. And now I’m like ‘oh my hair is all ratty, I never wore makeup, like what’s wrong with me!’. That was the worst part, I was like oh my god, I didn’t do anything with myself. “
Speaking of hair, Jenni is now a solid brunette and says no more blonde extensions. She admits a friend suggested she put them in and then she couldn’t get them out so she was stuck with them for all of shooting! She also told me that a lot of the cast bulked up during the 6 weeks. As you know if you watched the show, everyone hits the gym and works out. Jenni said that because of that, they had protein powder in white canisters because they weren’t allowed to show labels on the show (Ed Hardy excluded I guess ☺ ) Jenni and crew noticed that every week they would each gain more and more weight. After some serious investigative work (how many Jersey Shore kids does it takes to figure it out), they realized that it was weight gaining muscle milk in the canistors, so every time they thought they were replacing meals with 150 calories, they were all drinking 1000 calories instead! Jenni laughs about it now.
Jenni, who is Spanish and Irish, insists that the Shore crew is real and grounded and that they weren’t trying to play on any sterotype. “The term guido or guidette we never really used it, MTV used it. We are proud because at the end of the day it’s a lifestyle, we consider ourselves in that type of scene. Music, hair, to how you dress, it’s a lifestyle. We are not trying to imitiate an ethnicity, we are not trying to make fun of it. We are all just living our lifestyle. We are all just those people in the house. We are proud of what we did– I’m not proud of the fights or anything– but waking up every day and being able to go on the show and show people how I am normally and the rest of the cast is.”
So what about all of those punches Jenni threw? She says a lot of the people who contronted the cast and started fights were people who tried out for the show, didn’t make it and wanted their 10 seconds of fame. She said that people “pushed and pushed and pushed, mixed with alcohol” resulted in the fights and says “none of us are like that”. She said most of the time the cast walked around with security and police, and that they all felt terrible that they weren’t there when Ron got into some trouble on the boardwalk. Jenni says they called her the “big sister” in the house because she just wanted to protect and defend her friends. She told me she’s “not an advocate for fighting but stand up for yourself”. She prides heself on being a good friend and never judging people on their weight or appearance and doesn’t seem to have much tolerance for people who do. She promised me that her fighting days are over, and that she “is a loving, caring down to earth Long Island girl who just like everyone else wants to have fun in their twenties” and then promised me “ I will never throw the first punch again in my life”. Adding, however, she would want to do a celebrity boxing match for charity—The Jersey Shore vs. The Hills. Wonder who would win that one!
Well, let’s hope J-Woww keeps her promise to keep her hands to herself, because if she has it her way she’ll be shooting a Jersey Shore spin off on our east end. Yup, she wants to bring the whole crew to shoot for a summer in the Hamptons. There have been rumors of a second season, but J-Woww says they won’t know for sure until after the show wraps or for at least another month. So fellas, hold on to your ladies at Summers and Neptunes because “The Situation” may be in the house.
Until then, Jenni will make the most of her new celebrity status, saying she doesn’t want to leave this limelight. The NYIT grad is working on a clothing line. She partnered up with a Long Island company and is currently picking out fabrics and drawing. She is a graphic artist, and if you frequent Grimaldi’s Pizza in Garden City or Douglaston, you can see her murals on the wall. And soon you too can look like J-Woww— the clothes she’s designing will be “like the edgy clothes I wear on the show I want to make– but better”. She also still has her promotional company. She’s currently doing appearances around the country and on Long Island. She owns a house in Franklin Square, and that’s where you will find her with popcorn and boyfriend Tom on Thursday nights watching the Jersey Shore, reliving her summer and “laughing it off”.
