GTL: Prison Edition. Mike “The Situation” Sorrentino’s prison stint included attempting to smuggle chicken, playing softball with Billy McFarland and watching new episodes of Jersey Shore: Family Vacation from behind bars.
The 37-year-old MTV star spoke candidly about his time at the Federal Correctional Institution in Otisville, New York, on the Thursday, October 10, episode of his costar Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi’s podcast, “It’s Happening Wth Snooki & Joey.”
“I feel fantastic. I lost 40 pounds in this process. I’m reunited with my beautiful wife,” Mike told Polizzi and her cohost, Joey Camasta, referring to Lauren Sorrentino, who joined him on the podcast. “Working on the No. 1 TV show on MTV! I’m grateful and taking advantage of every moment, every conversation, every meal and just living my best life.”
While Mike revealed that the prison had a “high school” vibe with cliques, people “left him alone.”
“They really loved me,” he added. “I lucked out.”
Us Weekly confirmed on September 12 that Mike completed his eight-month sentence for fraud and was subsequently released.
“When I first got home, all I wanted to do was spend time with my beautiful wife, I wanted to have a naked pizza party. … I wanted to watch movies. I wanted to watch Avengers, I wanted to watch Game of Thrones,” Mike said. “I had to catch up on all that TV. I wanted to snuggle with my dogs. Then the producers of MTV were like, ‘We need to get you in there ASAP.’”
In the end, Mike joined Polizzi and their castmates to film a reunion scene the day after he was released.
“I pretty much took the ball and started to run with it immediately. I started working the day I came out. I saw you guys the next day,” he explained. “I moved in a couple of days later. I wasn’t mentally ready but at the same time it’s my job. It’s time to man up, rise to the occasion. Get that money! I missed out on eight months. I wasn’t doing projects for eight months. … I missed out on a lot of money.”
Scroll through for five revelations about Mike’s time in prison: