Inside Pauly D's Relationship With Jersey Shore Co-Star Vinny Guadagnino

Many fans of reality television are very familiar with two names: Pauly D, or Paul D. DelVecchio Jr., and Vinny Guadagnino. The pair have starred on several reality shows together, including "Jersey Shore," "Revenge Prank," and "Double Shot at Love." 

"Jersey Shore" was the first show that paired the two when it began back in 2009. At the time, Guadagnino was a fresh-faced 22-year-old and Pauly D was 29 years old, as noted by The U.S. Sun. Since the show's conclusion in 2012, the two have been happy to revisit their time filming, which can lead to some interesting moments. For example, when asked by Men's Health if anyone on the show was on steroids during filming, Pauly D responded by asking if anyone on the show wasn't on performance-enhancing drugs. He joked, "In Jersey, when you go to the beach, they inject you."

After "Jersey Shore" ended, the pair struck up a deal with MTV to star in a dating show called "Double Shot at Love." Since Pauly D is happily paired up with girlfriend Nikki Hall these days, Season 3 of the show will focus on finding a potential lifelong partner for Guadagnino ... with a little help from his friends. It definitely takes a special friendship to go through something like that together. Here's a look at the relationship between Pauly D and Vinny Guadagnino, and what it's like today.

Season 3 of "Double Shot at Love" debuts on MTV on September 16, 2021. When the show began a few years prior, the premise was pretty standard for a dating show: Pauly D and Vinny Guadagnino would take turns going on dates with a group of 17 women, hoping to eventually find the one they want so spend the rest of their lives with. So far, the show is doing pretty well: Pauly D has been with girlfriend Nikki Hall, whom he has described as "the full package," since the two met in Season 1, as noted by People.

Since Pauly D is paired up, the focus is on Guadagnino in Season 3. The twosome will be joined by none other than Hall herself, who will offer the pair an all-valuable female insight. Guadagnino will certainly have quite the group to choose from, and as he shared in Season 3's official trailer, he's "ready to meet the woman of my dreams."

While it might be hard to imagine them separately, Pauly D and Vinny Guadagnino didn't actually know one another until they were both cast on "Jersey Shore" (via Vulture). Luckily, their friendship has survived the years, and these days, Pauly D describes Guadagnino as his "best friend." He even told TV Insider that he couldn't wait to help Guadagnino find someone as special as his own girlfriend, Nikki Hall, especially since he can personally attest that dating shows "can work." As he explained, Guadagnino just needs a little help. "Sometimes his head gets clouded by his own judgment," he said. "A smart guy, but everyone can use a little help to find someone to fall in love with."

That kind of brotherhood is definitely something that any women who come into Guadagnino's life probably need to be aware of. Since Hall has returned to the cast of "Double Shot at Love," it certainly seems like she's on board with the men's friendship and has offered up her support.

"Jersey Shore" and "Double Shot at Love" aren't the only MTV shows that Pauly D and Vinny Guadagnino have appeared on together. In 2020, the pair launched the prank show "Revenge Prank With DJ Pauly D and Vinny." The show has all the makings of a viral success, since the premise was 100% tied to the internet. Pauly D and Guadagnino are paired with someone who has been the victim of a prank that ended up going viral online ... and they help that person get revenge on the person who inflicted the original prank in the first place, as noted by CBS8. 

As the trailer for Season 1 put it, "They're helping the pranks get payback with the wildest pranks ever. If you can dream it, they can prank it." The guys seemed to enjoy helping people get payback during Season 1 (per MTV News), and in December 2020, Screen Rant shared that the network was bringing back the show for Season 2 in January 2022. 

Like a lot of best friends, Pauly D and Vinny Guadagnino have developed their own way of speaking that Cosmopolitan has described as "fluent catchphrase." When it comes to watching "Double Shot at Love," it's probably wise to be familiar with what exactly that means. While many viewers of "Jersey Shore" are likely already more than familiar with the words and phrases that Pauly D, Guadagnino, and their reality TV compatriots spit out, there are a few phrases to keep in mind, per the New York Daily News. A "grenade" is a woman that one of the men does not find attractive, and a "backpack" is someone who is clinging to someone else. "The shirt before the shirt" refers to the top a person has on right before they change at the last minute to go out. And "it's T-shirt time" is a phrase that Pauly D and Guadagnino are fond of singing when they are changing to go out.

Those are just a few of the phrases that you might hear on "Double Shot at Love." Knowing these two, they will likely invent more!

Like the rest of us, Pauly D and Vinny Guadagnino found themselves quarantining at home throughout most of 2020. Unlike a lot of us, the two were filming "Jersey Shore: Family Vacation," which meant they were quarantining with each other, their castmates, and everyone's significant others. As Page Six reported, the entire group consisted of Pauly D and Guadagnino, of course, and Jenni "JWoww" Farley, Mike "The Situation" Sorrentino, Angelina Pivarnick, Ronnie Ortiz-Magro, and Deena Nicole Cortese.

If that sounds like too much for you, rest assured that the guys thought it was great. Pauly D explained to Page Six that everyone even thought it was pretty awesome that fans could find out exactly what the group was doing throughout the quarantine experience, especially since it's something that a lot of people were going through too. "What was it actually like in a pandemic? What's our family like? What's it like when you bring somebody else into the group?" he said. "So we get to share that with everybody." 

Even though they now have three seasons of filming "Double Shot at Love" under their belt, both Pauly D and Vinny Guadagnino have admitted that filming a reality show about dating has been an odd experience at times. As Pauly D explained to People, when the men were both single, they each struggled to balance the relationships within the house of nearly 20 women. "You have 20 women and they're dating both of us. I spend time with one, and the other ones are all looking at me — they're judging," he said.

Guadagnino also explained to the publication that having physical relationships with the women was "weird," especially because many of them formed friendships throughout the filming experience. "One, it would cause drama, so of course people would be upset and jealous," he shared. "Then there was this other weird part where you would hook up or kiss [someone], and those girls were all friends with each other!"

Pauly D echoed this experience, telling People that, if he kissed one woman, she would often turn around and make a show of telling the other women about it. What an odd experience to go through with your bro!

At this point, it's not a surprise that Pauly D and Vinny Guadagnino are super close. In fact, Pauly D told Pennsylvania News Today that he believes he knows more about Guadagnino than Guadagnino knows about himself, which makes him the ideal person to help his friend find love again on "Double Shot at Love." Pauly D explained, "I know this guy. I think he knows him better than he knows himself at this point. This time when he was looking for someone, I know it was someone who could have some substance."

That kind of knowledge will likely come in handy, especially as Guadagnino himself explained to the publication that he's not even sure what his type is: "I really don't know my standards. That's what makes me a problem." Luckily, the upside to being the only one pursuing a relationship this time around is that Guadagnino has plenty of time to get to know each woman without Pauly D doing the same thing at the same time, which should help him figure out just what he has in common with each one.