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Jersey Shore: Family Vacation fans are left scratching their heads after Ronnie Ortiz-Magro’s new podcast interview. They’re wondering, “what’s wrong” as Ronnie spoke about his original Jersey Shore casting and the job he had before becoming a reality television star.

Ronnie Ortiz-Magro poses on the red carpet to promote 'Jersey Shore: Family Vacation.'
Ronnie Ortiz-Magro | Rich Polk/Getty Images for MTV

Ronnie Ortiz-Magro stepped back from filming ‘Jersey Shore: Family Vacation’ in 2021

The MTV reality star stepped back from Jersey Shore: Family Vacation in May 2021 to focus on his mental health. Shortly after being arrested for domestic violence in the spring of 2021, Ronnie shared a statement to his Instagram story. He announced he would leave the drama-filled series to focus on a journey to overall wellness.

Ronnie wrote, “After talking to the team at MTV, we have mutually agreed that I will step away from the show while I seek medical treatment for mental health issues that I’ve ignored for too long.

“My number one goal now is facing my struggles head-on. This process will be difficult, but my #1 priority is to get healthy and be the best man and father I can for my daughter,” the statement concluded.

Ronnie last appeared on the MTV series in August 2022, where he sat down with Mike Sorrentino for dinner at a New Jersey restaurant. “Haven’t been on the East Coast in a while,” said Ronnie in the episode. He continued, “Been a long year, and it’s been a lot of doing the right thing, just being a full-time dad and being sober, you know. I am living my best life, one day at a time.”

Ronnie Ortiz-Magro’s podcast appearance has fans scratching their heads

Ronnie spoke to podcast host Jaxxon, where he talked about how he was cast on the original Jersey Shore series. He also discussed his surprising job before reality television stardom hit.

“I didn’t want to do reality television. I was doing real estate before,” Ronnie admitted. “So I had a real career, a real job, and s***.”

“I was just out ’cause that’s what we did. We worked all week and went to the shore on the weekends, just doing. We used to go to clubs and talk to some girls,” he continued.

“I get approached by some girl who says, ‘let me get your number,'” he revealed. The next day production called Ronnie to do a video interview for the series that would eventually become MTV’s Jersey Shore.

However, some fans were taken aback by Ronnie’s voice in the interview. It sounds distinctly different than his heavy east coast accent. “Idk if I’m tripping, but he sounds mad different in this video,” one fan wrote. “Why does he sound like a totally different person.” “It’s not his voice at ALL,” exclaimed a second viewer.

“Sober and new teeth,” deduced a third fan. A fourth agreed, “He’s sober and lived on the west coast for a while, so his accent is gone.”

Could Ronnie return to ‘Jersey Shore: Family Vacation’? Mike Sorrentino says he’d have to do 1 thing first

Ronnie Ortiz-Magro and the rest of the 'Jersey Shore' cast pictured in 2011.
The cast of MTV’s ‘Jersey Shore’ in 2011 | MTV/MTV Press
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Jersey Shore: Family Vacation cast members include Mike Sorrentino, Jenni Farley, Nicole Polizzi, Angelina Pivarnick, Vinny Guadagnino, and Paul “Pauly D” DelVecchio. In an interview for TooFab, Mike addressed Ronnie’s absence. He suggested Ronnie needed to apologize for his past actions.

“He needs to, you know what I mean, and that would be up to him. [Ronnie] needs to have relationships with everyone,” Mike explained. The group gathers for filming twice a year and socializes during significant life events.

“It can’t just be once every couple of months. I keep telling [Ronnie] that he needs to keep relationships with the cast. That would remain to be seen, and that would be up to him,” he continued.

Jersey Shore: Family Vacation airs Thursdays at 8 p.m. ET on MTV.