After two years away from Jersey Shore: Family Vacation, it looks like Ronnie Ortiz-Magro is ready to make his comeback. The reality star appeared on the show’s season 6b premiere on Aug. 3. He met up with Mike “The Situation” Sorrentino to discuss his future on the show. Mike is the only roommate that Ronnie still speaks to since leaving the show in 2021 for mental health treatment. The decision to leave came following his arrest for domestic violence (he wound up not facing jail time after the incident).
“I feel at peace for the first time in a lot of years,” Ronnie said during the Aug. 3 episode, which was filmed at the beginning of 2023. “I know I made my mistakes and I want to ask the roommates for their forgiveness.” Aside from Mike, Ronnie hadn’t seen any of the other castmates since his 2021 arrest. He made two short appearances on the show after his 2021 departure, but only ever filmed with Mike.
“I sent a group text, I think you were included in that, and I sent an individual text and said something different to each person,” Ronnie told Mike. “Nobody responded.” Mike suggested that Ronnie show up on the next family trip to talk to everyone in person. Although he’s not the best at keeping secrets, he vowed to keep this one under wraps.
“Ron coming back is a big deal,” he admitted. “Everyone was just shocked from some of his actions. It wasn’t just one action..it was over and over and over..until those relationships were severed and non-existent.” Before actually being arrested, Ronnie was in an extremely toxic relationship with Jen Harley, the mother of his daughter, for years. Their troubles were documented on Jersey Shore, and although the roommates stood by him for quite some time, they eventually had enough.
Since those days, Ronnie got full custody of his and Jen’s daughter, Ariana, and moved with her to Miami. Jen also moved to Florida, but Ron made it clear that their moves were done separately. “I do still let [Ariana] spend time with Jen because I don’t want to be that parent that breaks up the relationship with the other parent,” Ron explained.
Despite being in a good place in his life, though, Ronnie knew something was missing. He started to tear up as he thought back to the good times he had with his castmates. “I miss them and love them,” he said, choking back tears. “They’re my family. We’ve known each other 15 years. It sucks. I miss being a family.”
Mike urged Ronnie to just be “honest” with everyone when he came back, and Ronnie assured him that he was ready. “I would love to get back in the good graces of my roommates,” he concluded. “I love them and I miss them. I’m in the right mental space. I can be around that atmosphere and that environment.”