For week three of his new Audacy podcast series On the Phone with John Mingione, NEW 102.7’s John Mingione called up Mike "The Situation" Sorrentino from MTV's Jersey Shore. During their chat, Mike got vulnerable talking about his time in jail, and more.
LISTEN NOW: On The Phone With John Mingione | Mike "The Situation" Sorrentino
Now married and a father of three, John and Mike started off discussing how things have changed since the first season of Jersey Shore debuted in 2010.
“I know it so crazy, man,” Sorrentino said, “it’s like the evolution of The Situation. I turned 15 minutes of fame into 15 years, and now I’m Big Daddy Sitch, three little babies, three under three, so it's pretty wild.”
Since his days of GTL, duck phones, and fist pumping to techno at the shore are looking a little different these days, Mike revealed he does go back and watch the past seasons of the MTV reality show for a little nostalgia.
These days, besides continuing his run on the revamping of the show Jersey Shore: Family Vacation, alongside all of his friends and castmates and their families, and his stint on Dancing with the Stars, Mike now has a brand new show called Statute of Limitations, described as “a true crime show, like no other.”
"These are real people, real crimes. The statute of limitations has expired and now these people have the courage to tell their story and to be honest with you, I'm a fan of true crime, so when I heard about this show and they had asked me to participate, I'm like, wow, this is a pretty cool idea and,” quipping, “and you know, it definitely takes a con to know a con.”
If you find yourself confused about that last bit, in 2014, Mike was charged with tax fraud for not paying taxes on $8.9 million. By 2018, Sorrentino plead guilty to one count of tax evasion as part of a plea bargain with prosecutors. In 2019, he was sentenced to eight months in prison, and received two years of supervised probation and ordered to perform 500 hours of community service, all to begin after his release.
John went on to praise Mike about getting “very vulnerable” and talking about his “own convictions.”
“I lean into it because, you know, we're all human,” Mike responded. “We all make mistakes and I think, you know, my job is reality TV. And I want to be as real as possible so that I can relate to the fans, the viewers, other people that may or may not have watched the show. So that they can maybe use my life story as maybe their survival guide.”
“Fortunately for me, I was turning my life around the time that I was going to prison. I was about two, maybe three years sober,” Mike said, noting he’s “going on my ninth year of sobriety now.”
“When I did enter a prison, I think I had some respect from, from the fellas in prison like this guy is trying to turn his life around,” he shared. “And again, we all know that change isn't easy and people saw me trying to do it. So the guys did open their arms and help me out and I did get extra food and I did get people trying to show me the ropes and I was very grateful for that.”
To hear the entire conversation, including his upcoming “naked photoshoot,” some behind the scenes Jersey Shore house secrets, and more, listen to the entire interview above.
Follow the new Audacy podcast On The Phone with John Mingione, featuring hilariously riveting conversations from A-List celebs, chatting on the phone with Z-List radio host and TikTok star -- NEW 102.7's John 'Johnny' Mingione