'Jersey Shore: Family Vacation' Star Lauren Sorrentino Lost Her Brother to Addiction Over a Decade Ago

Gone are the days of GTL, fist pumping, and Snooki drunkenly asking "Where's the beach?" The Jersey Shore cast is a hilarious bunch we’ve come to love over the years. And if you've been tuning into the reboot, Jersey Shore: Family Vacation, you know that a lot has changed for this motley crew since they were hitting up clubs on the shore in 2009.

Most of the original cast members are now in committed relationships and many have kids of their own. But of all the cast members, Mike “The Situation” Sorrentino seems to have made the biggest 180 since the original show ended. In December 2023, he celebrated 8 years of sobriety.

As a refresher, Mike dealt with an addiction to prescription drugs for which he went to rehab in 2012 and then again in 2015. He also did some jail time for tax evasion in 2019.

But the one person who seemed to stay by his side as everything went dark around him, was his high school sweetheart Lauren Pesce, now Lauren Sorrentino.

He and Lauren married in 2018. Then, in May 2021, they welcomed their first son Romeo Reign Sorrentino and in January 2023, they welcomed their first daughter Mia Bella Elizabeth. In September 2023, Lauren revealed that she was pregnant with baby No. 3., who is due in May 2024.

During Jersey Shore: Family Vacation Season 7, the gang all had a meal together as Mike celebrated the release of his tell-all memoir "Reality Check: Making the Best of The Situation." He credited Lauren for never giving up on him, claiming, "She loved me when I didn't even love myself."

Lauren, who was seated next to him, started getting emotional as her husband continued talking about his struggle. "A lot of people think I was crazy for like being there when he was so low, but people don't know that I had just lost my brother "she said, trying to hold back tears.

What happened to Lauren's brother? Here's everything we know.

Lauren's brother Christopher Pesce, tragically passed away on October 13, 2013, at the age of 25, per his obituary. From Holmdel, N.J., he played football all throughout high school and attended the University of Maryland, College Park, where he majored in economics. He was a fan of the Miami Dolphins and loved spending time with his family.

Per the Asbury Park Press, Christopher was found dead inside Oxford House, a drug-free halfway house on South Ward Avenue in Rumson, N.J. where he had been staying. An autopsy revealed the cause of death to be a heroin overdose. Almost a year later, another New Jersey man from Avon, Michael Renna, was indicted on charges of heroin distribution and causing Christopher's drug-induced death.

It was almost a year before authorities would tie an Avon man to Pesce's death. Michael Renna, 25, was arrested in the case on Aug. 26, 2014. He was indicted this past August on charges of heroin distribution and causing Pesce’s drug-induced death.

Given that drugs took the life of Lauren's brother, she likely felt like she couldn't give up on Mike or he could follow suit. We're so glad she didn't.

Jersey Shore: Family Vacation airs on MTV on Thursdays at 8 p.m. EST.