‘Jersey Shore’ cast tightens bond while filming fourth season in Italy

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Florence, Italy - MAY 18: The cast of the MTV series "Jersey Shore" appear during the taping of "Jersey Shore - Season Four" on May 18, 2011, in Florence,Italy. (Photo by Jeff Daly/MTV/PictureGroup)

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Updated: November 14, 2011 12:18AM

There hasn’t been this much brouhaha over cameras in Italy since Anita Ekberg danced in the Trevi fountain in the classic 1960 movie “La Dolce Vita.”

Of course, Ekberg’s aquatic interlude was high art. “Jersey Shore” is high jinks.

Definitely not to be taken too seriously, says the show’s creator and executive producer SallyAnn Salsano.

“I’m Italian-American, and I wear it with a badge of honor,” Salsano said during a break from filming season five of the series back in New Jersey, where it all began. “I feel like they’re just eight great kids on a TV show. No need to overthink it.”

The season in Florence debuts at 9 tonight on MTV. For six weeks starting in May, Mike “The Situation” Sorrentino, Ronnie Ortiz-Magro, Paul “Pauly D” DelVecchio, Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi, Jennifer “JWoww” Farley, Sammi Giancola, Vinny Guadagnino and Deena Cortese lived in what could be described as palatial accommodations, judging by footage of the appartamento revealed during a cast interview Wednesday on “Good Morning America.”

“We actually had to build the rooms they’re in,” said Salsano, who in addition to keeping an eye on her cast oversaw a crew of nearly 30 working around the clock. “It’s actually an old bank building that we renovated. Because it was a corporate office building-type structure, there was no kitchen, no bathrooms, no bedrooms. It was about 25,000 square feet. But I walked into it and all I could say was ‘This is it!’ We only ended up needing about 2,500 square feet of it.”

Which also includes the requisite private “smush room,” of course.

That Italy wasn’t prepared for all the “Jersey Shore” mayhem is a complete misnomer, Salsano said.

“The series airs in Italy,” she said. “It’s both subtitled and dubbed, so it’s kinda fun to watch it that way. It’s a couple of months behind, so they’re getting the end of season three right now.”

And what about all that ugly “Americans Go Home” attitude?

“There was so much press that we were gonna get thrown out of the country,” Salsano said. “It was ridiculous. There were fans everywhere we went. They had to close off streets. We arrived and it was amazing. Now to come home and read the press, it’s not at all what happened.

“Lots of times people wanted us in their shops, but the boss didn’t leave the OK with the staff. Or they had a no-videotaping policy. It was no different than anywhere else we’ve filmed. It was like that in Miami. There would be one place that said, ‘No, we don’t want you to film,’ and then that business owner would go to the press and say they kicked us out. Then the press would pick up on it.”

On “GMA,” the Bronzed Bunch revealed they spent most of their Italia time in the apartment or the gym, working in a pizza parlor, sightseeing, shopping, partying and trying to figure out why the Vatican is not in Florence. The guys revealed they mainly coupled with female American tourists, not the local gals. The girls whined that the Italian men were too skinny and wore tight pants, and that manicure appointments needed to be made one month in advance.

But what about all that great Italian food?

“Italian food in Italy is not like the Italian food in America,” Salsano said, laughing. “They went on a mad hunt for chicken parm and it was just not happening. I had my mom Fed-Ex me Pringles and Crystal Light. Everybody missed a lot of back-home creature comforts.

“This was the first time they were this far away from home, and they really did miss their families. Being away from home made their bonds tighter. In a foreign country, you rely on people you’re with so much more. You’ll really see them together more this season. I gotta tell you, I never laughed harder than I did this season in the control room, but I also cried more than I ever have.”

And what about those tans?

“Tanning salons are basically one bed in the back of a perfume store,” Salsano said. “There’d be one stand-up spray booth back there, so all of them would just stand in line waiting to use it. And they couldn’t find their favorite bronzers. Everybody just made do. But we did find bejeweled stuff everywhere, so that was good. And Italy does stock leopard-print fabric.”

Would the “Jersey Shore” team consider filming a season in Chicago?

“I’d do it in a heartbeat,” Salsano said. “The pizza’s so good.”