It's the end of a fist-pumping era for Snooki.
The longtime reality star of Jersey Shore fame, née Nicole Polizzi, broke some major news to her fans in a new episode of her It's Happening with Snooki & Joey podcast, posted Friday.
"So here comes my breaking news, you guys," Snooki told her listeners. "There's reasons why I've come to this decision...it's definitely a hard decision...I'm gonna throw up. Ok, you guys, I love you so much and don't hate me for my decision, but I have to do what's best for me at the moment, and I am retiring from Jersey Shore."
She continued, "I am not coming back to Jersey Shore [Family Vacation] for a season four, if there is one...And there's a lot of reasons why, but the main reason is really, I'm just like...I just can't do it anymore."
The beloved TV personality, who has starred on the hit MTV series, spin-offs and its recent reboot in the course of the past decade, cited her family lifestyle as part of why she wants to step away.
"I hate being away from the kids, I don't like partying like three days in a row, it's just not my life anymore," the 32-year-old star shared, noting she's frequently tried to quit. "And I wanna be home with the kids. I don't mind a here and there going to a dinner or whatever, but it's just really hard on me to leave the kids and film the show." In May, she welcomed her third little one, son Angelo LaValle, with husband Jionni LaValle.
She also mentioned she wants to "come off as a good person and lately on the show...it's just been very drama." "Our show Jersey Shore is about family and about making fun of each other and having a good time and laughing and just knowing that it's all in good fun and lately, it's just like everything is so serious, and when it comes to our show, it's not about like, 'Oh, team this, team that,' and then fans are against one another when it comes to a cast member," she elaborated.
"I'm not leaving my kids days on end to film this show when that's the result of it. I just don't like the turnout of it and I don't like the person that I'm being portrayed as," Snooki said, sharing that she's also been receiving death threats and ones to her children.
As she put it, "I just need to do what's best for me right now and right now, I'm just not comfortable filming that show anymore with the direction it's going."
Now that the star is bidding farewell to her shore days, a source close to the cast told E! News the roomies are "not surprised about Snooki's decision not to return to the show."
"She had a particularly tough time going back and forth and leaving her kids for days at a time to go out drinking and acting like they did when they started the show a decade ago," the source explained, bringing up recent reported conflict with Angelina Pivarnick. "Her fight with Angelina was one of those moments that she 'tried to quit' like she said on her podcast. She really almost did that night."
However, "she of course appreciates her Jersey Shore family and the lifelong friends she's made," the source told E! News, "but making her family a priority trumps all that."
Snooki made that clear herself on the podcast, telling listeners, "I love my roomies to death—they know that. I'm not going anywhere when it comes to them and them being my family."
—Reporting by Jessica Finn