“Jersey Shore” star Sammi “Sweetheart” Giancola had some big news to share Monday night.
The problem: Monday was April Fools’ Day.
So she appended a little note to her Instagram post assuring her 3.8 million followers that this was not, in fact, an April Fools’ joke.
The “life update” Giancola shared:
She’s engaged.
Or, she’s been engaged for a little while now.
Giancola, who hails from Hazlet, said she became a bride-to-be when her boyfriend, Justin May, proposed March 16.
“The easiest question I’ve ever answered.. happiest & luckiest girl in the world,” she said in the post. “I’ll love you forever and then some. Can’t wait to spend the rest of my life with you.”
Giancola, 37, shared photos of the couple and the ring taken a La Mondina, an Italian restaurant in Brielle. She owns Sweetheart Coast, a boutique in Ocean City.
“She said yes!” said May, a Rutgers alum from Toms River, in his own Instagram post.
“Can’t wait to Marry my best friend!” the former Karma bartender and bouncer added. “Love you so much babe! can’t wait to spend the rest of my life with you!”
In the comments of Giancola’s post, congratulations poured in from “Jersey Shore” co-stars like DJ “Pauly D” DelVecchio, Jenni “JWoww” Farley, Deena Nicole Buckner (née Cortese), Angelina Pivarnick and Mike “The Situation” Sorrentino — who just welcomed his third child with wife Lauren Sorrentino.
Another “Jersey Shore” regular, Vinny Guadagnino, offered up his own an engagement post that did appear to be an April Fools’ prank (see below), given the near-identical timing and lack of disclaimer.
Giancola, an original cast member on MTV’s “Jersey Shore,” dated another of her co-stars, Ronnie Ortiz-Magro, after they met while filming the reality show. Their stormy on-off relationship was a large part of the series before the show ended in 2012.
When MTV’s revival series “Jersey Shore Family Vacation” premiered in 2018, Giancola was the only cast member not to return.
“I am currently extremely happy in every aspect of my life and want to avoid potentially toxic situations,” she said at the time.
Giancola eventually made her “Jersey Shore” comeback last year, after Ortiz-Magro’s departure — though he has since returned, too.
Before her relationship with May, Giancola was engaged to Christian Biscardi in 2019. By 2021, it appeared that they had broken up.
Stories by Amy Kuperinsky
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Amy Kuperinsky may be reached at akuperinsky@njadvancemedia.com and followed at @AmyKup.