EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: The Real Life Inspiration Behind the Jersey Shore Guidos
Jul. 2 2010, Published 10:13 a.m. ET
The Jersey Shore guys introduced their 'gym, tan, laundry,' mantra to mainstream America last summer, and RadarOnline.com can now exclusively reveal the real life inspiration behind reality television’s craziest cast.
“I am the father of the Jersey Shore,” claims fast-talking Charlie Balducci. “I established the lifestyle of Staten Island and the guido style.”
MTV fans remember Balduccui as the hot-head guido from 2001’s True Life, where he infamously threatened to beat up a limo driver for making him late for his wedding. Even nine years later, his wedding day rant is still one of the most watched clips on MTV.
“Charlie set the tone with his style and attitude and really gave MTV the idea for the show,” his manager Sal Bonaventura told RadarOnline.com. “He has the hot-head of Ronnie and the smarts of Vinny.
“They took all the personas of Charlie and brought in five kids with all the different aspects of his personality,” according to Bonaventura.
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Now happily married with two kids, Balducci says he’s calmed his partying ways and his now pouring his energies into inner city community projects, such as NYC Arts Cypher.
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“It teaches kids the differences between vandalism and art,” he explains. Balducci produced a move called Mural, about graffiti as an art form that just won the Best Documentary award at the Staten Island Film Festival.
“This is about rebuilding my image,” says Balducci. “The MTV thing is what people knew me for before, so this was a great way to reinvent myself.
“I was famous for the rant and rave on there but I really needed to show that you are not labeled like that forever. You have to grow and learn from it, I think there is a small percentage of people who could have done what I have - this is a major success for me.”
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Balducci has some words of wisdom for the Jersey Shore kids about how to handle their current 15 minutes of fame.
“I would tell them to be really careful about how far they are willing to go on TV now – as quick as you come in, as quickly you leave, he warned. “You have to make a foundation for a legacy, they are going to want to get married and have kids one day.”
The slick-haired Italian had one final golden nugget of advice for the guys. “They had better be careful about how much hair gel they use, or they’ll go bald!”