Pauly D.'s Comments About Sammi Not Being At The 'Jersey Shore' Reunion Miss The Point

Jersey Shore Family Vacation got off to an amazing start during its premiere last week, though not every OG castmember was present. Sammi "Sweetheart" Giancola opted out of appearing on Family Vacation, and Pauly "DJ Pauly D" DelVecchio's commented on Sammi's absence. Clearly, fans of the show aren't the only ones who are still having a little trouble coping with her missing the reunion. Her fellow Shore alums recently shared some of their thoughts on her decision not to come and vacation with the crew in Miami, and judging by his comments, Pauly D may be the most heartbroken about the situation.

The cast of Family Vacation recently sat down with Us Weekly for the magazine's In Case You Missed Us podcast to chat about all the antics that viewers can expect to see on the show this season. While there, the crew — Pauly D, Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi, Vinny Guadagnino, Mike "The Situation" Sorrentino, and Deena Cortese — dished on the upcoming season while sharing their thoughts on Sammi's decision not to come.

"She's in a good place. I honestly think if Ron [Ortiz-Magro] didn't do [the show] she would have done it," Deena told the show's host when the group was asked about Sammi. (Ron and Sammi had a difficult relationship during the course of the show, and she's currently seeing someone else.) Right after Deena explained why their friend wasn't participating, Pauly D slyly responded to her comment with, "I'm in a good place and I'm here."

Pauly further explained his disappointment in Sammi's absence when the cast appeared on Elvis Duran and the Morning Show earlier this week. He said,

"I don't get it. I just feel like we did this — maybe I'm just being selfish — [but] we did this all together and I wanted us to continue doing this all together. I didn't want to be without anybody. I wanted everybody I started with, everybody to do it again, so I'm being a little bit selfish and I wanted her to do it."

Deena again pointed out that Sammi likely would have changed her mind if Ron hadn't been there. However, Pauly D was adamant. "You don't say no," he said during the interview. "This is an opportunity that people [would] kill for, die for, would love this opportunity. You don't say no to it. Put me in a house with 400 of my exes, I don't care."

It's nice that Pauly D is so confident that he'd be able to handle living with his exes if it meant having the opportunity to film and have fun with his former castmates again, but not everyone processes things the same way. While it would definitely be great to see the entire group back together again, it's completely understandable why Sammi chose not to come back. She even shared an explanation on her Instagram page. She wrote,

"I am currently extremely happy in every aspect of my life and want to avoid potentially toxic situations."

Her relationship with Ron throughout the six seasons that Jersey Shore spent on the air was pretty tumultuous, and watching it all play out on television was a wild ride, to say the least. Sammi and Ron have since moved on, with Ron recently welcoming a baby girl, and Sammi being in a relationship of her own. It's still not hard to understand why she would rather not return to the show and be reminded of what her relationship with Ron. As she explained on Instagram, she's not the same person she was at 22, and she wants to focus on the future. That's something that all of her Jersey Shore castmates should respect.

During the season premiere that aired on April 5, the cast poked a little fun at Sammi's absence with a blowup doll that even came with a voice-box that echoed some of her more memorable lines from her time on the show — and that includes "Ron, stahp!" She may not be on the show right now, but the cast misses her a lot, and she's at least still there in spirit. However, no one should pressure her to return if she feels it's not what best for her. Sorry, Pauly D., but only Sammi can make that call.