15 Years Later, Snooki Speaks Out on Her Biggest WTF ‘Jersey Shore’ Moment

Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi has had one of the greatest transformations to come out of reality television. The Jersey Shore icon began as a young party animal, and is now an influencer in the lifestyle space as well as a wife and mother. She still lives her life out loud, but it’s a bit more tame. Despite this, one of her wildest moments on the show will live on in infamy: her drunken beach arrest. 15 years later, however, it’s a moment she can look back on with laughter.

Snooki’s Season 3 Beach Arrest on ‘Jersey Shore’ Is a Memorable MTV Moment

In a 2010 episode of Jersey Shore’s third season, Snooki has a little too much to drink. She is seen falling over, yelling curse words, and crying out, “Where’s the beach!” — while walking on the beach — showcasing just how out of it she is. She is quickly arrested by a police officer who’d been contracted by MTV for the scene. Snooki was eventually charged with disturbing the peace, disorderly conduct, and criminal annoyance. Reflecting on the moment, she told PEOPLE, “It was just like, ‘Alright, she’s getting out of hand. If this was anybody else, we would arrest them.’ So they had to arrest me. I was nuts.”

Snooki Reunites With the Police Officer Who Arrested Her

In her first of two TikTok videos of her reunion with Officer Joe Fastige, Snooki asked her arresting officer, “That day, what was going through your mind? What did you think when you saw me being disgusting on the beach?” Surprisingly, he said he felt bad for Snooki, telling her:

“Not disgusting…just having a little bit of fun. Too much fun, but that’s okay. Honestly, I don’t know. I was 21 years old at the time… a baby cop, a year out of the academy, and I was getting paid a little bit of overtime to kind of watch you guys … A bystander was like, ‘We wouldn’t allow anyone else to do this right now’… and then I did what I had to do. But it’s okay, everyone makes mistakes. Everyone gets a little bit too drunk and [forgets] where the beach is, even if the beach is right under your feet.”

Snooki reflected on the officer’s demeanor, saying, “He was very nice. We did funny little TikToks of reminiscing and reenacting him arresting me. But he’s a nice guy.” She also said she refused to let fan backlash get her down. “I never took myself seriously, thank God, so when people talked about me bad or made fun of me, I’m just like, ‘Whatever, let me live.'”

Snooki Has Evolved Since Her Beach Arrest on ‘Jersery Shore’

Image via Nicole Polizzi/X

A lot has changed since 2010. Snooki is now a devoted wife and mother to Lorenzo, Giovanna, and Angelo. She says motherhood was a changing point for her. “I used to be scared of kids, I didn’t like kids, I didn’t know how to hold a baby, I never gave a sh*t about anything,” she said in a chat with Entertainment Tonight in 2013. “But everything came so natural to me once I became a mom. I feel more mature now. I’m more responsible, I’m a good mom … yet I still know how to have fun when I want to!”

Being a mother of three, she said it can be difficult balancing children at different ages, but she’s enjoying the journey. In an interview with PEOPLE, she said, “Angelo is definitely the easiest because he’s in pre-K. My older son’s very easy because he’s a teenage boy. He’s probably gonna wear these clogs to school. He’s definitely gonna steal them. That’s like his look, the clogs,” she said. “It’s just the sweatpants look. He looks like he’s going to bed,” she added. Of Giovanna, she adds, “She’s like in her teenage era right now where she wants to always look pretty and done up and going to Sephora and get the 100 creams. I’m like, ‘You really don’t need that, you’re 10 years old.'” While Snooki’s wildest days may be behind her, the MTV mogul is still living her life to the fullest and looking back on her Jersey Shore days with a smile.

Release Date

2009 – 2012-00-00

Network

MTV

Writers

SallyAnn Salsano

Franchise(s)

Jersey Shore