The Aug. 29 episode of Jersey Shore picked up with Ronnie Oritz-Magro completing 30 days in a “wellness retreat center” to deal with his depression and personal issues. He had a complete new outlook on life after deciding to get help. “Being there was more than I expected,” he said. “30 days ago I wouldn’t even look at myself in the mirror. Now, my outlook has changed. I’ve last more in the last month than I’ve laughed in a really long time. I’ve smiled more. I looked at myself before with shame, regret and resentment. But me going to get help doesn’t mean that I beat this — I’m going to fight every day for the rest of my life. At first, it might be a struggle, but I’m going to make anything work for my daughter.”
Rather than returning to Las Vegas — where he was living with Jen Harley and their daughter, Ariana, before rehab — Ronnie decided to rent a place in Los Angeles and look for a home there. “Moving back to the places I had bad experiences isn’t good for my recovery,” he explained. Ronnie got a visit from Vinny Guadagnino and Pauly “Pauly D” Delvecchio, who wanted to make sure they knew how proud they were of him for getting help. “I feel really good,” Ronnie told them. “I needed it. Too much s*** was going on. It took time to reset and do what I had to do for myself and the baby. The decisions I was making were not the decisions a father should make.”
Of course, Vinny had to ask where things stood with Ronnie and Jen. “As of right now…we’re not together,” Ronnie said. “We haven’t been together for a couple of weeks. I gotta focus on myself. She’s gotta want to help herself. I can’t keep trying to help her. I’m going to drive myself crazy.” Of course, this is something that Pauly and Vinny have heard before, and they’re not convinced that things are really over.
Naturally, they’re right, and just a few weeks later, Ronnie and Jen are back together and planning Ariana’ first birthday party. “It’s crazy,” Ronnie revealed. “Making it work is best for the baby. I feel like it’s the best for each other. We keep fighting for something, so there’s gotta be something there and it’s not just the baby. People raise kids without each other all the time, so it has to be something deeper. Ariana’s first birthday is coming up and I want everyone to see me and Jen getting along and throwing this amazing birthday and putting whatever differences we do have aside to make sure Ariana has a great day.”
Things seemed to be going well, but with Ronnie and Jen, it’s no secret that that never lasts. We’ll see how this continues to play out as season three of Jersey Shore: Family Vacation continues!
