How Sammi Sweetheart's Boyfriend Justin May Really Feels About Being on Jersey Shore (Exclusive)

While the upcoming season of Jersey Shore Family Vacation will feature her coming face-to-face with with her ex-boyfriend Ronnie Ortiz-Magro, she says she's unbothered by their onscreen reunion -- thanks to the excitement of rejoining the show and her beau, Justin May.

Sam was the only original star to sit out MTV's Jersey Shore revival when it debuted back in 2018, distancing herself from the series until Ron stepped away from it to focus on his mental health. She rejoined last season -- and avoided a run-in with Ortiz-Magro -- and is back for another go around starting later this month.

"I do wish I came back sooner, but I don't regret coming back at the time that I did because I needed to make sure that I was good in all aspects of my life," Sam told TooFab ahead of the season premiere. "Like mental health and my career, with my relationships, my own relationship with my boyfriend, my family, I had to make sure I was good in all aspects of my life before I came back."

And speaking of her relationship with May, it's booming.

The two started dating in 2021 and while Justin popped up last season on Jersey Shore, Sammi promised fans will be seeing even more of him in future episodes. Though Sam's return to reality TV was quite an adjustment for the pair, she said he's been nothing but supportive of her choice to do so.

"He's truly amazing. I just love him so much. He's very supportive and him being the way that he is made it a lot easier for me to decide to come back in general. It's kind of like a breath of fresh air, like I didn't have to worry about him," she explained to TooFab. "He was like, 'Go for it. I support you.' He's very supportive and he's awesome and I'm so thankful for that, to be honest with you."

"You're gonna see him a lot on this next season and I'm excited for you all to see him, because he's really like a great influence in my life and he's just, he's amazing," she continued.

According to Sam, she did have to give her man some pointers before he stepped in front of the camera -- reminding him that when the cast goes on these so-called "vacations" together, it doesn't necessarily mean rest and relaxation.

"It's not like we're going at the pool all day. Like we can't just hang out at the pool. Like, it's also kind of work, in a sense. You have to get used to the cameras and the filming and there's people everywhere like 24/7 and that is a little bit of an adjustment, especially for him," she explained, adding that it's even been a bit of a learning curve for her again too.

"Even for me to get back into it, I'm like, oh wow, I'm really back again, it's weird," shared Sam. "I went to living a very private life and now I'm like just going food shopping and living normally like everybody else and I feel people's eyes on me and I'm like, 'Oh man, I forgot I'm on TV again.' Like, it definitely happens where I'm like, 'Oh,' I actually forget that I'm on TV."

This coming season, the gang will return to the infamous Shore house -- which Sam said was "still like gross and dirty from when we left it" -- and head on trips to Nashville and Atlantic City. With Giancola telling TooFab she feels "truly blessed" to be back, one question remains: How long will she stick around?

"I'm so thankful to just be here. And if I'm here for this season, I'm thankful. I take it season by season," she said when asked about her future with the show. "I just feel so lucky that I'm able to even come back and do this again. So if it lasts forever, I would love that. I would love that."

She also said she'd love to go "anywhere tropical" for future trips and thinks a return to Italy "would be so cool" if they got the chance.

One place she's fine not being, however, is the main group chat with the rest of the Jersey Shore cast.

"You know what? I love my roommates ... I actually have a chat with everybody and I love them all honestly, but they do have their own chat with themselves," shared Sam. "But they've been doing this way longer than I have. So I'm kind of like, I'm good."

"They asked me if I wanna be a part of it and I'm like, 'Guys, I'm okay,'" she continued. "Like when the show's over, I could take a break from everybody. I don't need to be in the group chat 24/7. It's totally cool with me."

Jersey Shore Family Vacation returns Thursday, February 8 on MTV.