Nicole ‘Snooki’ Polizzi: The Ultimate Guidette

Though she isn’t Italian by blood, Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi is the ultimate guidette.

“Ummm…I mean look at me,” said the 23-year-old reality TV star of MTV’s “Jersey Shore.  “I have the attitude, I’m strong, I like to be tan, I love animal print and I’m very gaudy.”

And let’s not forget the pouf!

Polizzi, who grew up in Marlboro, NY across the river from Poughkeepsie and now lives in North Jersey with her boyfriend Jionni La Valle, was born in Chile and adopted by a close-knit Italian family. However, the Chilean-American says you don’t have to be Italian to be a guido or guidette.

“Being a guido or guidette is a lifestyle,” said Polizzi. “You don’t have to be Italian. You can be any nationality. You have to have that attitude, be strong, independent and go about your life like it’s your own world. You gotta love flashy things and like to be tan.”

The New York Times best selling author offers a step-by-step guide on just how to live that lifestyle in her newest book “Confessions of a Guidette.” Polizzi will be signing copies of her book at the Oct. 27; click for the details.

“The first book is a novel, this book is kind of a how-to guide,” said Polizzi. “I definitely wanted to come out with a book that answers my fans’ questions: 'Where do you get your clothes, where do you get your shoes, how do you stick up for yourself?' I feel that this book definitely helps my fans get to know me and learn how to be a strong person.”

Polizzi said she developed strength and a tough shell after being bullied by girls in high school.

“I still get bullied by tabloids calling me ‘gross,’ or ‘a slut,’ so, at this point I’m just like ‘whatever hater,’” she said. “It just gives me more motivation to succeed and prove everyone wrong. I never care what other people, the haters, think. I never let it get the best of me, and I think that’s a great quality every girl should have.”

Though she doesn’t deny her wild behavior on “Jersey Shore,” —Season 4 recently showed her dancing at a club with her “kooka” out, and cheating on her boyfriend by sleeping with her roommate, Vinny Guadagnino—Polizzi says that what’s presented on the show is only one side of her: the Snooki side.

“Snooki is the girl on ‘Jersey Shore’,” said Polizzi. “When we film, it’s kind of a vacation for us. We go crazy, we drink, we go hard and party. That’s the party-side of me. Yeah, I love to have fun, and I love to be the center of attention at bars and clubs, I have a wild side.  But I also have a laid-back, quiet side.”

According to Snooki TV, Polizzi says she was shy before becoming a reality TV star, used to be a cheerleader and go to church and CCD class (Confraternity of Christian Doctrine or religious instruction). Though she isn’t a hooker and doesn’t love always being called Snooki, Polizzi says she is, however, two things: a meatball and a human being.

“My name is Nicole Polizzi, and I’m a person and I have feelings,” she said in one of the homemade videos. 

According to Polizzi, she isn’t the party girl everyone thinks she is, and hardly ever drinks when she isn’t filming the show. When she isn’t out promoting herself, she usually just hangs out, does arts and crafts in the basement, goes online shopping and watches movies. 

“If you asked me on a Friday night ‘do you want to go to the club or do you want to go to the movies and have a sleep over?’ I would rather go to the movies and have a sleep over," said Polizzi. "Nicole is my chill, laid-back side.”

So, when she visits Westchester next week, you probably won’t catch her at one of the Mamaroneck Avenue bars—although Polizzi did say she enjoyed a night on the White Plains bar/restaurant strip a few years ago, where she saw “gorillas walking everywhere.”

You will, however, see Polizzi in Season 5 of “Jersey Shore,” on MTV in January or February. Season 5 started filming immediately after the roommates left Italy (Season 4), and wrapped in August. Click here for a sneak-peek of Season 5.

In addition to her product lines, which include perfume, tanning products, shoes and sunglasses, Polizzi is also working on a spin-off series with co-star Jenni “JWoww” Farley.