Jersey Shore’s Ronnie Ortiz-Magro Says His Daughter “Calms His World Down”

Watching Ronnie do his certifiably weird dance moves at the bars, constantly show up late to work at the t-shirt shop, and have some rather undignified arguments with then-girlfriend Sammi Giancola, it’s hard to picture him as a father. But the Ronnie Ortiz-Magro of today is not the same guy we watched on MTV’s Jersey Shore all those summers ago (even The Situation has a growing family). Today, he’s a proud dad to his only daughter, 5-year-old Ariana Sky. Though he’s no longer in a relationship with Ariana’s mom, Jen Harley, he says all is well in his little family.

Ortiz-Magro has been out of the spotlight for a couple of years, ever since April 2021 when he was arrested for a domestic violence incident involving then-girlfriend Saffire Matos. He was removed from Jersey Shore: Family Vacation as a result, but made a brief appearance on the current season of the show to make amends with his costars. Here’s everything we know about Ortiz-Magro’s rocky relationship, and where his little family stands today.

Ronnie Ortiz-Magro began dating then-girlfriend Jen Harley in July 2017.

Those of us who watched Jersey Shore religiously will probably always think of Sammi and Ron, and the pair did have a long relationship — they were together from 2009 to 2016. It’s not clear how Ortiz-Magro met Harley, but the pair began dating in July 2017. On Dec. 26, 2017, he announced they were expecting a baby.

The pair welcomed baby Ariana in April 2018.

In an Instagram post, Ortiz-Magro said he almost missed his daughter’s birth. He was touring with his cast mates to promote the latest installment of Jersey Shore: Family Vacation, and though he had a feeling he shouldn’t go, he flew with them to London. He ended up hopping right back on a plane home when Harley let him know it was time. He made it to the hospital in time to see Ariana be born.

Harley and Ortiz-Magro split the same month, and were on and off again for nearly a year.

Later in April 2018, Ortiz-Magro and Harley ended their relationship after new episodes of Jersey Shore: Family Vacation showed Ronnie’s costars accusing him of cheating during filming. They posted insults to each other on social media, and seemingly got into a physical fight while on Instagram Live, Us Weekly reports. They seemed to reconcile, fight, and break up time and time again.

There were multiple physical altercations between the couple: one in June 2018 when Harley showed up unexpectedly in Las Vegas while Ortiz-Magro was filming, and a second later that month when Harley allegedly hit Ortiz-Magro in the face. Their relationship seemed to finally end after an October 2019 incident in which Ortiz-Magro was arrested and charged with domestic violence.

In November 2020, Ortiz-Magro began a new relationship with Saffire Matos, with the pair becoming engaged in June 2021. Months prior, in April, Ronnie was arrested twice for domestic violence in Los Angeles. MTV removed him from Jersey Shore: Family Vacation. In June 2022, he called off his engagement to focus on his mental health, sobriety, and raising his daughter.

Today, Ronnie Ortiz-Magro says Ariana is his whole world.

In a March 2023 episode of Jersey Shore: Family Vacation, Ortiz-Magro shared that he has full custody of Ariana. She lives with her dad full-time during the school year in Miami and spends weekends with her mom. He doesn’t share many photos of her online, but in a clip from the show, he says having a young child is “a lot of hard work,” but that Ariana “keeps [him] balanced” and “calms his world down.” Meanwhile, the little girl in her princess outfit helps pack up her play room for their move to Florida.

Ron Ron made another appearance on the show on Oct. 19, 2023. The Jersey Shore cast were on a trip to Orlando, so he made the drive up to apologize for his past actions in person. In a confessional interview, he described his life today (and Ariana is at the center of it):

“It’s been 2 years since I’ve seen everybody. I had to step away because I made a lot of mistakes, but I’ve been doing a lot of work on myself lately, trying to make sure I’m on the right path and staying healthy. I moved to Miami and go to meetings, I have a sponsor, I work on myself. I was granted full custody of my daughter and I just focus on my happiness and her happiness.”

Ortiz-Magro says that while his relationship with Ariana’s mother was not good, his daughter is perfect.