The “Jersey Shore” star has been open about the lengths he went to hide his drug addiction.

The Situation says he’d be ‘dead’ if he didn’t get sober

The "Jersey Shore" star has been open about the lengths he went to hide his drug addiction.

By Derek Lawrence

Derek Lawrence

Derek Lawrence is a former associate editor at **. He left EW in 2022.

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May 7, 2026 3:10 p.m. ET

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Mike 'The Situation' Sorrentino in 2018. Credit:

Phillip Faraone/FilmMagic

- Mike "The Situation" Sorrentino thinks he would be "dead" if he didn't get sober.

- The *Jersey Shore* star struggled with drug abuse during the show's run.

- Sorrentino now hopes to help others.

Mike "The Situation" Sorrentino recently voiced concern for the health of his *Jersey Shore* costar Ronnie Ortiz-Magro, and he speaks from personal experience, believing he'd be "dead" if he hadn't straightened himself out.

Partying made Sorrentino a reality TV star when *Jersey Shore* premiered in 2009, and his pre-existing addiction problems only worsened, to the point that he estimates he spent close to $500,000 on drugs and went to great lengths to hide his issues from *Jersey Shore* producers and MTV. Now sober for over a decade, Sorrentino is thankful to have found the light.

“I felt like I couldn’t be touched, and nothing was farther from the truth,” Sorrentino told *The New York Times*. “I was lost, and if I didn’t get sober, I’d be dead.”

'The Situation' on 'Jersey Shore'.

John Kessler/MTV

Sorrentino was in and out of rehab many times over the years, and, in retrospect, viewed through the lens of his battle with addiction, his odd behavior on the later seasons of *Jersey Shore* makes a lot more sense.

"I was trying to be one step ahead of the producers. It was like *Mission: Impossible* every season because there was a different caper to try to get past production," he recently explained. "If I was flying, I was also trying to get past TSA... I was hiding stuff in my shoes in Italy. I was hiding stuff in season 2 in Miami in the bottles of fat burners... unconstituting a pill and reconstituting it with the drug. And then when I was being filmed like 24-7, I'd be smiling because I knew they couldn't know."

He now realizes those involved with the show "were essentially trying to save my life, and I was probably one of the most resistant people they've ever met."

'Jersey Shore' star Ronnie Ortiz-Magro addresses mental health struggles, interview clip of him 'nodding off'

Mike 'The Situation' Sorrentino reveals how far he went to hide his drug use on 'Jersey Shore'

Sorrentino finally got sober in 2015, and then later served eight months in prison for tax evasion charges in 2019. Since his release, Sorrentino has aimed to be there for others in similar positions, opening an addiction and mental health treatment center in New Jersey.

He's also served as a mentor of sorts to Ortiz-Magro through his own struggles, and when his costar caused concern by nodding off during a recent cast interview, Sorrentino publicly shared that his "heart is heavy", and offered to assist "where I can." (Ortiz-Magro has subsequently addressed "trying to battle through one of my toughest moments.")

“I want to help people write their comeback story,” Sorrentino said. “I’m using the love that I’ve earned over the past 17 years in America’s living rooms, and I take that love very seriously.”

Sorrentino and his roommates return Thursday night for the final season premiere of *Jersey Shore: Family Vacation*.

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