Jersey Shore reality star Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi is happily ever after with husband Jionni LaValle.
After previously saying on the MTV reality series that her “ultimate dream is to move to Jersey [and] find a nice, juicy, hot, tanned guy,” Polizzi and LaValle met at the Karma nightclub on the set of Season 3 Jersey Shore. However, Polizzi later told Larry King that she “hated” LaValle at first.
“I thought, ‘Oh, he’s cute. That’s enough for tonight,'” she recalled Larry King now in 2018
But Polizzi changed her tune after hooking up with LaValle a few times. “I say, ‘I want to marry you!’ ” Polizzi told PEOPLE in 2011, recalling the moment she knew she wanted to spend the rest of her life with LaValle. – I know he is the one.
The couple had two children, son Lorenzo and daughter Giovanna, before they were married in St. Rose of Lima in East Hanover, New Jersey on November 29, 2014. Polizzi and LaValle welcomed their third child, son Angel, in 2019.
While Polizzi admits that because of their family’s busy schedules, she and LaValle “never have time to go out,” she told PEOPLE in 2024 that they started hosting movie nights instead.
“So when the kids go to bed, we’re going to go to our spare room, we’re going to have some wine. I’m going to make like a little meat board and we’re going to watch a scary movie,” she said. “It’s the best and I feel like it’s real for us because we like to relax. We don’t like the drama of everything. So those are our favorite moments.”
Here’s everything you need to know about Polizza’s husband, Jionni LaValle.
He is a former wrestler
Larry Busacca/Getty
Raised in New Jersey, LaValle wrestled on Hanover Park High School’s varsity team. He also comes from a wrestling family, as his brother, nephew and son were involved in the sport.
2013 he chirped that his brother James was inducted into the Hanover Park Sports Hall of Fame. He later congratulated his nephew Vincenzo for becoming the county wrestling champion in 2022. The legacy continued with LaValle’s son, Lorenzo, who placed second in the February 2022 competition.
He studied to become a teacher
Jionni LaValle’s Instagram
Polizzi is a reality TV veteran, but LaValle once had a different goal in mind. At the beginning of their relationship, he was very cautious when photos of the couple started appearing in the tabloids.
“He pooh-poohed,” Polizzi told PEOPLE in 2010. “He said, ‘I don’t want to be in that world,’ because he’s trying to be a teacher and, you know, he just wants me to be me.”
He married Polizzi in 2014
NEP/WireImage
After a year and a half of dating, LaValle proposed to Polizzi in March 2014. At the time, Polizzi was also pregnant with their first child.
The couple married in New Jersey more than two years later during The Great Gatsby– thematic affair. Several of Polizzi’s Jersey Shore Costars were in attendance, including Jenni “JWoww” Farley, who was a bridesmaid, and Paul “DJ Pauly D” DelVecchio.
“I want to get married again,” Polizzi chirped after their wedding on November 29. “Such an amazing experience celebrating the love between @JLaValle and I! Love you hubby.”
In November 2023, the couple celebrated nine years of marriage.
“We had the best fricken Gatsby wedding! You’ll always be my great Gatsby, old man. I’ll love you forever,” Polizzi wrote on Instagram alongside a video of the couple’s first dance.
He doesn’t like to be in front of the cameras
Snooki/Instagram
While LaValle appeared on the original Jersey Shorehe decided not to join his wife in the 2018 renewal of the series.
“My wife is filming a scene of packing up and leaving for her new show and I CHOOSE NOT to be on TV because I just do NOT like it,” he wrote on Instagram. “Nicole and I are awesome and we’ve gotten even stronger together raising our beautiful children. HOWEVER, you won’t see me on her reality show. Being a reality star was never something I wanted to be when I grew up. I have my own business and work hard at that’s what I do.”
Polizzi left the show the following year, but returned Jersey Shore: Family Vacation in 2021
He and Polizzi have three children
Snooki’s Instagram
Polizzi and LaValle are the parents of two boys and a girl.
Their older son, Lorenzo Dominic, was born on August 26, 2012 at Saint Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston, New Jersey. Two years later, the couple welcomed daughter Giovanna Marie on September 26, 2014. LaValle and Polizzi were officially “outnumbered” when younger son Angelo James joined the family on May 30, 2019.
Over the years, the reality star has documented sweet moments with her children on social media. In April 2023, the family of five traveled to the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, where they posed in front of Cinderella’s castle.
“The most important thing is family✨ #mycrew #disneyfam,” Polizzi captioned the post.
He is a passionate sports fan
Jionni LaValle’s Instagram
In addition to being a wrestler, LaValle enthusiastically supports several sports teams and athletes. He often shares game day posts rooting for the MLB New York Yankees and the NFL Miami Dolphins.
Polizzi told PEOPLE in 2012 that she lavished her then-fiancé with Dolphins memorabilia. “I bought him some signed Dolphins stuff,” she said. “He’s obsessed with the Dolphins and Dan Marino.”
The New Jersey native also enjoys professional wrestling events such as SmackDown and even started playing golf. “The next few months is when I’m going to start fixing the swing!” he wrote a photo of himself on the green from 2018.
He starred in his own TV show with Polizzi
Snooki’s Instagram
LaValle has a contracting background that he used on a home renovation show with his wife in 2016. On the FYI series Nicole & Jionni’s Shore Flipthe duo were repairing damaged houses as part of a new house flipping business. The show lasted one season.
“We decided we wanted to do it down by the coast because the coast means a lot to us,” Polizzi told PEOPLE. “We met there, and ever since [Hurricane] Sandy hit, a lot of homes were still destroyed and families couldn’t afford home repairs, so we wanted to help the community as much as possible.”
She added: “Jionni has always wanted to change houses. It’s been his dream for a while.”
In 2021, Polizzi returned to the world of home renovations as the host of HGTV’s special design competition, Cabana Royale Beach.
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