'Jersey Shore: Family Vacation' cast remembers when Angelina called herself 'the Kim Kardashian of Staten Island'

In the more than 12 years since the original Jersey Shore debuted on MTV, the cast has said and done so many wild and just plain funny things that we've lost count. They revisited one of the best in honor of the new romance between Saturday Night Live star Pete Davidson and TV star-turned-activist and law student Kim Kardashian.

It was when Angelina Pivarnick told the cameras that, back home in Staten Island, others referred to her as the Kim Kardashian of the place, because of her looks and because she had "a swagger like her."

"That goes to show you that you could be from Staten Island and get Kim," Pivarnick tells Yahoo Entertainment in an interview with the cast ahead of the new season of Jersey Shore: Family Vacation. "I'm all for it."

Vinny Guadagnino, who also hails from the New York City borough, adds, "Angelina used to be the Kim Kardashian of Staten Island, but now Kim Kardashian is the Kim Kardashian of Staten Island."

The gang has been through a lot together, including marriages, divorces, babies, arrests and more.

As Pauly "DJ Pauly D" DelVecchio says, "We put the reality in reality TV. There's no faking what we do. You can't fake a marriage, a divorce, jail. You can't fake that stuff. It just actually happens."

There's been as much drama off-screen as on, like when Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi quit the show during Pivarnick's wedding festivities, after the bridemaids' toasts — make that roasts — went badly. But, like a true family, they've come back together.

"I kind of just needed a reset button, cause I'm not good with confrontation and drama," says Polizzi, who announced in 2019 that she was leaving the show. "Like, it really just puts a damper on me, so I definitely needed time away. But then watching the roomies in the season that I wasn't there, and I was like, 'Oh my God, I miss them. Like, this is crazy. Like come on girl, get your s*** together. I was ready to come back and, you know, be with my friends."

Deena Nicole Cortese says she was happy to see her pal.

"We're just so glad Nicole's back!" she exclaims. "It was definitely different not having her there. She's our meatball. The fact that she's back is just, like, the best thing ever."

New dad Mike "The Situation" Sorrentino and Jenni "JWoww" Farley are in this season, too, which includes a trip to the Florida Keys and a whole lot of protocols to keep the cast safe from COVID-19.

The new season of Jersey Shore: Family Vacation premieres Thursday, Jan. 6 at 8 p.m. on MTV.

— Produced by Jen Kucsak and edited by John Santo