Luxe Life Blog

Photos: DJ Pauly D plans his new MTV spinoff based at the Palms

Posted June 28, 2011 • 11:52 a.m.

DJ Pauly D at Ghostbar in the Palms on June 24, 2011.

Photo: Palms

Within two hours of landing in Las Vegas from Italy, where he wrapped Season 4 filming of MTV’s hit Jersey Shore, DJ Pauly D is enthusiastically telling me about plans for his own reality TV series to be shot on and off the Strip.

First, though, he has to film Season 5 of Jersey Shore for the next 10 weeks. After a whirlwind 48 hours at the Palms that began last Friday to start his new DJ residency, he flew back East to join the other cast members in their New Jersey seaside house filled with cameras that monitor every move 24 hours a day.

“I flew out of Milan, but because of the time difference, I feel like I was still in Italy today. This trip to Vegas is like a pit stop because I start the filming for the next season this weekend, too. There’s no peace for the wicked. No rest, but I like to be busy. I’m glad I was able to come out to Vegas, though, for the weekend,” he said.

I joked with him about his joining the ranks of Celine Dion and Garth Brooks as Las Vegas headliners. “That is amazing. I feel like them. I still get goose bumps thinking about it,” he laughed.

“Every day, I think back to what we were doing before the camera rolled the first time and say, ‘What the hell happened?’ I don’t know how I got here, how this happened. I used to just DJ at local spots on Rhode Island, and I was happy. I sold new and used cars during the day; I was a good salesman in the car business for 10 years and a DJ by night. DJ’ing isn’t a job for me. Selling cars was paying the bills, being a DJ was my fun, my passion.”

Pauly landed the Jersey Shore role thanks to social media: “It was the craziest thing. I got a message on MySpace saying they liked my look for a show they wanted to do, but they didn’t even know the name of the show. I didn’t even know if I should give this person my number or not, but I did, and they called me the next day from L.A. and said they were sending a camera crew to film a day in my life.

“So, I was like, ‘Why not?’ The camera crew got to my house, and that’s when I knew it was real. They said just do what you normally do. So I took them to the gym, I took them tanning, I picked up my laundry, and then I went DJ’ing, and that was it. Six months later, they said I got on the show. At that point, I still didn’t know what it was.

“It’s changed my life completely -- for the good. It’s been a blessing for me. DJ’ing is what I love to do; I’ve been doing it my whole life. The show gave me this huge audience to let me DJ all over the world, but I have to show them I can actually DJ. The Palms gave me this one shot to show them what I can do, they approved, and I landed this residency. That’s a dream come true for me. So, fame aside, money aside, I’m doing what I love to do.”

Pauly, who readily admits that he’s 30, told me about the Jersey Shore group’s visit to Italy: “It was good. Italy is beautiful, but bring in the Jersey Shore, and we’re going to bring in some drama. There was drama -- as always. I try to stay away from the drama, but I like to watch it.

“Snookie got into a car accident. That was scary because it’s hard to drive out there. The roads are really narrow, and the scooters, oh my God, the scooters. But she was OK, thankfully, and she didn’t get arrested. Can you believe that she scraped a police car? So when I got that call, I was like, are you kidding me?

“We heard all these things they didn’t want us to do: They didn’t want us to drink, and they didn’t want us to do this. I didn’t get to see any of those rules that were supposed to have been printed in the papers. We went to museums.

“I know originally there was all this trouble there with us being described as Guidos, and they didn’t want to be like us. I don’t look at it like that; if you call me a Guido, I say thank you. Call me a Guido, that’s fine, if a Guido is a person with muscles, a tan, gelled hair and Italian, that’s me, I’m a Guido. I don’t see it as derogatory in any way. I don’t know why they saw it as derogatory. I didn’t understand that.

“Never once did I say I represent all of the Italians of the world or all the Guidos in the world. I only represent myself. I’m not a spokesmodel. They called me for a television show, and I’m doing it. The show isn’t called Italian People From Jersey. Some of the people on the show aren’t even Italian. I’m 100 percent, Jenny is not Italian, and Snookie is not Italian.

“I met the Mayor of Florence the last day, he loves us, and he’s 35 years old. We won them over in the end.”

After Season 5 is completed in August, four of the cast is getting their own spinoff shows: Pauly, Nicole “Snookie” Polizzi, Mike “The Situation” Sorrentino and Jenni “JWoww” Farley. Pauly told me what he wants to do on his reality TV series: “It will be about my life before the Shore, what happened during it, and what happens after it. They will be filming me DJ’ing out here, so it will be based in Las Vegas. It will be with my friends, so a little mix of Entourage and The Hangover. I’ll maybe take a little bit of a break and then start filming. Maybe go right into it. I’m not sure.

“I’m still single. I met a girl in Miami, but nothing really serious, we’re still friends. I met a girl on the show who was really cool; we were hanging out a lot. It’s tough for me to find time for even a little romance because I’m constantly moving, moving, moving. I have to find someone who is in the industry or something. It’s a case of striking while the iron is hot. I know this doesn’t last forever, so I’m trying to make the right decisions now to set myself up for life. I’d still be selling cars probably if this hadn’t come along. I think about that a lot.”

I asked him if the speed of his stardom worried or scared him. “It happened so quickly, and I am afraid to make a wrong decision and it could affect the future because I’m sort of learning as I go,” he replied. Pauly credits his love of music and being a DJ for keeping his feet on the ground and not getting into trouble.

“Music, no matter what, if I’m stressed or whatever, I throw my headphones on, it’s like DJ’ing is my stress reliever, my medicine. No drugs, and I only drink casually. I love to be busy, and that makes me able to cope with the madness of it all. I haven’t gone wild. I got a couple of cars, and I have a lot of motorcycles. As far as a home, I don’t really have one. I mean I have one in Rhode Island, I have one in Florida now in Boca, and hopefully I’ll have a place out here in Vegas. It would be great to get a condo here in Palms Place right above my tanning salon!

“I think about long-range goals. I still see myself DJ’ing, something with music, maybe some studio time producing or even working with some artists or something. And then in a nice house with a family someday. DJ’ing is my life! I’m a happy person, quite content and not restless in any way. I like to stay busy, keep it moving. I’m able to do what I love now all over the world -- I’m happy.”

Robin Leach has been a journalist for more than 50 years and has spent the past decade giving readers the inside scoop on Las Vegas, the world’s premier platinum playground.

Follow Robin Leach on Twitter at Twitter.com/Robin_Leach.

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Follow VDLX Editor Don Chareunsy on Twitter at Twitter.com/VDLXEditorDon.

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