Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi

Tiny, pouf-sporting, self-professed Guidette Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi is arguably the most beloved of the "Jersey Shore's" cast.

Polizzi, who is of Chilean and Italian descent, was adopted by Italian-American parents when she was six months old. Growing up in Marlboro, New York, she earned the moniker "Snooki" from a character in the movie "Save the Last Dance", and has since become a pop culture icon.

Polizzi made her reality television debut in 2009 on MTV's "Is She Really Going out with Him?", a show about women who are dating self-absorbed men, with her then-boyfriend Justin. Soon after, she answered an MTV Facebook advertisement looking for young Italian-Americans who like to party at the Jersey Shore for a new reality series. It was a decision that changed her life and catapulted her into an overnight sensation along with fellow cast members Jenni "JWoww" Farley, Vinny Guadagnino, Sammi Giancola, Ronnie Ortiz-Magro, Paul "DJ Pauly D" DelVecchio, Michael "The Situation" Sorrentino; and Angelina Pivarnick.

"Jersey Shore" ran for six seasons, and resulted in numerous spin-off reality TV series; the most successful of which following Polizzi and Farley in "Snooki & JWOWW" (2012-2015). In 2017, the E! network debuted a one-off television special called "Reunion Road Trip: Return to the Jersey Shore". In the same year, MTV announced that the cast (with the exception of Giancola) would be reuniting in Miami, Florida, for a new reunion series titled "Jersey Shore: Family Vacation" in 2018.

Polizzi is an author to three books, "A Shore Thing", "Confessions of a Guidette", and "Gorilla Beach". She launched her fashion line "The Snooki Shop" in 2018, and hosts the MTV reality show "How Far Is Tattoo Far?" with Justina Valentine and Nico Tortorella.