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"I needed to get away," she says -- before addressing her "flirty" relationship with Joey Essex.
For Angelina Pivarnick, the opportunity to head to the Canary Islands to film "All Star Shore" couldn't have come at a better time.
As anyone who watches "Jersey Shore Family Vacation" knows, things between her and her husband Chris Larangeira were on thin ice for much of last year -- as viewers saw them both be the subject of cheating rumors as she detailed their "nonexistent" sex life. While Chris filed for divorce earlier this year, "All Star Shore" -- Paramount+'s competition series pitting Angelina against stars from other reality franchises including "The Bachelorette," "Love Island" and "RuPaul's Drag Race" -- was filmed before the big break.
That being said, the situation wasn't peachy between them when she took off for Spain -- and she very much needed that distraction.
"You guys all know there's all these reports out there about me and my husband, you will see a lot see play out on 'Jersey Shore,' so I really don't want to give too much away," Pivarnick teased when TooFab caught up with her ahead of the series premiere. "But going into this, I was like kind of in a rocky thing with my husband at the time, so I needed a vacation, to meet new people."
"First of all, I never went to another country like that. I went to the Caribbean, that's about it. For me it was like, that's what I needed," she continued. "I needed to get away from here a little bit and that's exactly why I did it. I had fun. But I don't want to give too much away."
In the first episodes screened by TooFab, Pivarnick does get a little close with "The Only Way Is Essex" star Joey Essex -- who is seen in the trailer for the series exclaiming "I think I might be able to break up Angelina's marriage" while speaking to another costar. It's safe to say Pivarnick was caught off guard by that moment in the teaser.
"I just saw that today when I woke up, I was like, 'Holy shit man,'" she said with a laugh. "You know what, that is Joey. Getting to know him that whole month, it was quite amusing to me. Especially now seeing it and seeing him actually say that, I didn't know he said that to Johnny."
Of their relationship, she did admit they were "close" and "a little flirty" -- but added "nothing else" happened between them.
Overall, Pivarnick said she had a great time and called it "refreshing" to be able to meet new faces from all around the world. "Everyone with their accents, it was amazing, just so amazing," she added. "I would do it again in a heartbeat."
"All Star Shore" premieres June 29 on Paramount+. "Jersey Shore Family Vacation" returns for a new season June 23 on MTV.
