Snooki Opens Up About Cancer Diagnosis, Funeral Planning, and Filming with 'Jersey Shore' Castmates
Reality TV fans adore Jersey Shore's Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi for her authenticity and vulnerability. And she stayed true to herself during an episode of the Let's Be Honest with Kristin Cavallari podcast, where she opened up about her recent Stage I cervical cancer diagnosis. When asked how it felt to receive the health results, Polizzi responded, "Terrifying."
She further explained, "I definitely had a breakdown. Like, ‘Oh my God. What am I gonna do? I gotta get my will in place. What is going to happen?' Planning my funeral. I was being so dramatic. But then, I did research, and I was like this is so common for women, and no one really talks about it. And I'm gonna be okay, because there's things I have to do and I'll be fine. Stage I is the best-case scenario. I just have to get a hysterectomy and then just have to watch it for the rest of my life. But yeah, it's scary! When you hear the word ‘cancer,' you're like, ‘Oh my God. I'm dying. I have to do all these things. My body's gonna change.'"
Polizzi publicly announced her Stage I cervical cancer diagnosis in February on TikTok. However, this decision did not come easily at first, until she saw other women sharing their experiences on the same social media platform. She revealed to Cavallari, "I didn't think I was going to tell anyone-just my close family, and that's it. Let's deal with this. No one's going to know. But then, I went on TikTok because I didn't know anything about cervical cancer, hysterectomy… I needed someone relatable to talk about their experience."
"So I went on TikTok, and there's just so many women saying I just got diagnosed with Stage I [cervical cancer]. This is what I have to do. And then other TikToks saying how they had a hysterectomy [and] it wasn't that bad. And I was like, I feel like I need to tell my story because I literally looked for these women to make me feel better. So why not talk about it? Because nobody talks about it. And it's so common. It's so common to have Stage I cervical cancer," added Polizzi.
Snooki shared her hopes of getting a hysterectomy "probably this summer," which would require a two-week recovery period. While she's "terrified" of the surgery, she's excited for what's ahead, including spending time with her husband Jionni LaValle and their three children, expanding The Snooki Shop, and filming with herJersey Shore castmates for years to come.
"We're definitely not done filming. We always said we want to film until we're in a nursing home, in Depends, and being old ladies. We're just trying to figure out the next step."
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This story was originally published May 19, 2026 at 11:14 AM.