“She’s definitely my better half and the reason why I strive to be the best version of myself and to fight for our future,” the reality star says.
With the popularity of Jersey Shore, Mike “The Situation” Sorrentino has become a reality TV fixture. He battled a painkiller addiction in the public eye, and now he is a recovery advocate, speaking candidly about his own experience.
Now Sorrentino’s wife, Lauren Pesce, has been credited with helping Sorrentino stay sober, even as he’s preparing to serve an eight-month jail sentence for tax evasion, which is set to begin on January 15.
As People reports, Sorrentino and Pesce met in junior college and dated for about four years. The couple took a break from each other during the Jersey Shore heyday, then got back together once the show had ended.
Pesce has had to endure a lot as Sorrentino’s significant other, including witnessing his fight for sobriety. Having battled an addiction to painkillers, Sorrentino is reportedly nearly three years sober after two visits to rehab—the first in 2012 and the second in 2015.
As a practicing Catholic, Pesce said she relied on her faith when Sorrentino needed help.
“It’s not so much just going to church,” she says. “It’s finding my belief, that God has a reason for everything, and knowing you’re able to overcome anything as long as you have your faith and trust in God. That’s what I did, and Mike really came into that as well and found his own spirituality.”
Pesce adds, “What I dreamed of, the expectations I had set for him, him getting healthy and sober—I didn’t know that our relationship would survive had those miracles not happened, and they did. He put in the hard work and thanks to the faith in God that we have, we’re in the position we’re in today.”
Sorrentino called Pesce “my better half and the reason why I strive to be the best version of myself and to fight for our future.” Sorrentino also wants to be “a good example to her, her family and everyone watching—because my life has been under a microscope. I have a lot to prove.”
Right before Jersey Shore returned to MTV in April, Sorrentino hit a 28-month sober milestone the month before.
He told Entertainment Tonight, “I’m very proud, it’s one of my finest accomplishments and it was a huge challenge. It’s a ‘one day at a time’ thing and [I’m] just showing people that it’s very possible.”
Sorrentino also showed off his two-year Narcotics Anonymous medallion in an Instagram post: “28 months clean and sober. We do recover.”
