The Situation‘s girlfriend was not a Jersey Shore fan! In fact, Lauren Pesce, college sweetheart of hard-partying Mike Sorrentino, didn’t really watch the show regularly.
“I definitely didn’t follow some of the crazy stuff going on in Jersey Shore,” the fashion blogger, 30, reveals to Us Weekly. “I didn’t like a lot of the things he did, but we weren’t together! I was just glad he had found success.”
The couple, who dated for three years a decade ago, reconnected after Sitch’s reality TV stardom. “We had gone our separate ways, but we parted on good terms and always kept in touch,” Pesce, who runs fashion blog The Style Bae, explains. “I went into the work world and he went into fitness modeling and then Jersey Shore. I was nothing but happy for him. We were on our own different paths in life. Timing is everything — we circled back to each other about two years ago and we kind of picked back up where we left off.”
![Jersey Shore](/wp-content/uploads/Jersey-Shore-052915.jpg?w=467&quality=86&strip=all)
Sorrentino, 32, didn’t stop making headlines after his MTV stardom thanks to ongoing legal troubles and a struggle to get sober. “We’ve been through a lot of things. One minute you’re going to get breakfast and then you look down and you’re on the cover of the Post,” he confesses. “There’s a lot of curveballs been thrown our way in the last year or so, and that can put stress on a relationship.”
Now, the pair is preparing to spend their lives together — Sorrentino even gave his bae a promise ring — and are putting their commitment to the test on WE tv’s Marriage Boot Camp.
“We’re definitely a stronger couple than when we walked in. They just teach you certain tools in order to better the relationship,” Situation tells Us. And although he bared a lot on Jersey Shore — most notably his torso — this new show was even more intimate. “It was a totally different experience for me. It definitely was an eye-opener for sure. It made me vulnerable and open up. We learned a lot about each other.”
Marriage Boot Camp premieres Friday, May 29, at 9 p.m. ET on WE tv.