Mike ‘The Situation’ Sorrentino gave his fans a peak at the cover of his upcoming tell-all memoir Realty Check in an Instagram post on Wednesday.
The 41-year-old Jersey Shore star promised in his caption to be ‘completely honest’ while delving into his years-long struggle with drug addiction.
He also promised ‘hilarious behind-the-scenes stories’ from his time on the popular MTV reality series, which originally aired from 2009 to 2012, before returning in 2017 for Reunion Road Trip: Return to the Jersey Shore and reviving the series as Jersey Shore: Family Vacation the following year.
Sorrentino’s cover showed two different subtitles to Reality Check, ‘Making the Best of the Situation’ and ‘Howe I Overcame Addiction, Loss, and Prison.’
He was featured in a heavily touched-up extreme closeup, with one side showing a fairly natural but airbrushed part of his face, while the other half — which didn’t line up perfectly — show him wearing sunglasses, party beads around his neck and showed a wash of colors.
Opening up: Mike ‘The Situation’ Sorrentino unveiled his new tell-all memoir’s book cover on Wednesday. He vowed to give an unvarnished portrait of his addiction struggles; seen in 2012 in NYC
Double life: The book was primed to highlight the difference between his hard-partying ways on Jersey Shore and his prescription painkiller addiction thanks to its cover, which showed his face split in two contrasting sides
The halves presumably represented his hard-partying reality show alter-ego, as well as his current sober self after he kicked drugs seven years ago.
‘I’m so proud and excited to announce my book is coming out this fall!,’ he gushed at the top of his caption. ‘I’ve been writing my autobiography for over a year now, and it’s finally done and ready to share with the world.’
He wrote that his memoir was about ‘hitting rock bottom but never giving up.’
‘It’s the first time I’ve been able to truly share my full story, and I didn’t leave anything out,’ he continued, claiming that he was totally truthful about ‘how deep my drug addiction ran,’ and he said the memoir includes plenty of ‘crazy stories’ about those dark days.
He also said it would chart his long journey to sobriety following years of drug abuse.
‘I wrote about trying heroin, losing the love of my life, finding myself broke and homeless, and how when everything seemed lost, I refused to give up,’ he continued.
On a lighter note, Sorrentino promised to share his ‘first impressions’ of his Jersey Shore cast members, and he even teased that he had ‘dated’ on of his costars before they were paired up on the hit reality series.
Preorders of the hardcover book for $29.99 were already available on major retailer websites, though Mike added that his fans could preorder a copy signed by him for the same price if they ordered from the book’s official website.
In January, Sorrentino bragged to Too Fab that he continued to be a popular figure on Jersey Shore despite having to leave some of his hard-partying ways behind him.
‘For so long people had forecasted that I wasn’t going to be any good on TV or I wasn’t going to be able to be funny or I wouldn’t be able to last being sober,’ he gloated ahead of the season premiere.
‘Now going into my eighth year, I think the product that MTV gets and the fans get is the best version of The Situation,’ he continued. ‘I’m funnier and I have more lines and I’m more authentic. I love that fact that I’m the voice of reason and I have all my wits about me to be able to navigate this madness that is Jersey Shore.’
He has previously spoken about his addiction to prescription painkillers, and he first went public with his struggle in 2012, though it wasn’t until 2015 years later that he finally managed to achieve lasting sobriety.
A year before that accomplishment, he was charged with tax fraud, and after additional charges were levied against him he ended up pleading guilty to a single charge of tax evasion in 2018.
Dark days: ‘I wrote about trying heroin, losing the love of my life, finding myself broke and homeless, and how when everything seemed lost, I refused to give up,’ he wrote
Wild and crazy guy: On a lighter note, Sorrentino promised to share his ‘first impressions’ of his Jersey Shore cast members, and he even teased that he had ‘dated’ on of his costars before they were paired up on the hit reality series
Sorrentino went to prison for tax evasion in 2019. He has been sober since 2015. In 2018, he married his college sweetheart Lauren Pesce, and they later welcomed two children; seen in 2019
He was sentenced to eight months in prison, followed by two years of supervised probation and a requirement to complete 500 hours of community service.
He entered prison in New York State on January 15, 2019, and was released on September 12 of that year.
Amid his legal troubles, his college sweetheart Lauren Pesce was his rock, and they announced their engagement in April 2018.
The lovebirds married on November 1, 2018, and they went on to welcome a son in May 2021, followed by a daughter born in January of this year.