We first met Jenni “JWoww” Farley when she was cast in the hit MTV reality show Jersey Shore. The reality star gained such a following during her time on the show that she and her onscreen bestie, Snooki, ended up scoring their own spin-off show, Snooki & JWoww. Jenni has also made appearances in other reality shoes like Disaster Date and Marriage Boot Camp: Reality Stars. She and Snooki also run their own YouTube channel.
Fans have loved seen Jenni transition from a party girl on the Shore to a busy mama on her and Snooki’s reality show. While Snooki has two (but soon to be three!) little ones of her own, Jenni also has a son and daughter. She married her co-star Roger Mathews in 2015 after meeting on Jersey Shore. Their daughter, Meilani, was born in 2014, while their son, Greyson, was born in 2016. However, things weren’t smooth sailing for long. Last September, Jenni filed for divorce from Roger, citing irreconcilable differences. Since then, the soon-to-be exes have argued about everything, from custody to alimony, and it looks like it’ll only get more dramatic from here on out.
Keep reading to learn what all fans need to know about Jenni and Roger’s marriage and soon-to-be divorce.
20 Roger Tried To Win Jenni Back At First
When Jenni and Roger first announced their plans to divorce, fans weren’t sure if they would go ahead with it or not. Roger was very vocal about wanting to win his estranged wife back, which led fans to believe there may be a chance they could reconcile things.
"Here's what's also true, I'm not done fighting," Roger stated in an emotional video posted on social media in September. "I'm gonna win my wife back; I'm gonna win her affection back; I'm gonna win her love back. I have no intentions of being a single dad."
However, considering the turn things have taken, we doubt a reconciliation is very likely at this point.
19 Roger Is Challenging Their Prenup Agreement
Even though Jenni and Roger signed a prenuptial agreement before tying the knot in 2015, it sounds like he’s beginning to regret it. Shortly after the pair announced their intent to divorce, Roger announced he would be seeking alimony.
According to The Blast, Roger has already submitted legal paperwork to have the pre-nup “invalid and unenforceable.” In a letter he released online, Roger argued that his soon-to-be ex-wife makes “millions,” while he only makes “$100,000 a year.” However, the father-of-two deleted the post shortly after. It remains to be seen if a judge agrees with him or not.
18 He Also Wants Primary Custody Of The Kids
In addition to requesting spousal support, Roger is also asking to be given primary custody of his and Jenni’s two young children. According to The Ashley, the dad is hoping to get both primary physical custody and joint legal custody of their two children.
Jenni, however, has already requested she get primary physical custody. The publication added that she has also requested her ex only get visitation rights and that he also pay monthly child support. Uh, whatever happened to joint custody?
The media personality has said her estranged husband mistreated her in the past, which is part of the reason why she wants full custody of their kids.
17 Jenni Is Already Fighting Back
It’s no surprise that Jenni isn’t impressed that her estranged husband is trying to break their prenuptial agreement now that they’re getting a divorce. According to The Ashley, the celebrity and her legal team have already filed a claim refuting her ex’s request.
“[Jenni] demands judgment dismissing the counterclaim, together with such further relief as the court shall deem just and proper,” the celebrity’s answer to Roger’s request read.
Jenni also released a letter on her website in which she criticized her ex for coming after her money. “I recall you being the man who touted himself on and off camera so many times. ‘I am not with you for your money. I will never want child support, alimony,’” she wrote. “So where is this person now? How could you look me in the eye for so many years and say that you loved me for me and not for my paycheck?”
16 Jenni Says The Kids Changed Their Marriage
Just a few years ago, Jenni and Roger seemed totally in love on her and Snooki’s reality show. But clearly things have changed. According to Jenni, parenthood was the biggest factor that affected their marriage.
“You are either going to grow together as a couple and do everything together, or it can like [split],” she told Us Weekly. “I always say never have kids unless you want to have kids. I know a lot of people that are trying to have kids to fix their relationship or do all these crazy things. No, no, do not do that. Have them to have them.”
She continued, “You have to really go above and beyond as a parent, and when you think about having babies, you don’t think about that. It’s hard.”
15 Her Hubby’s Schedule Also Played A Part
It’s not just parenthood that took a toll on Jenni and Roger’s relationship. The reality star has hinted that her husband’s hectic schedule became the source of many of their arguments.
“[He works from] 6:30 [a.m.] until 6 p.m. He’ll try to pop in, but he tries to go to the gym before or after. He also does acupuncture and a chiro appointment because he’s old. He’s [a] grandpa,” the mom-of-two told Us Weekly.
She continued, “It’s really about maintaining ourselves to be the best parents because if we are overweight, tired or sluggish … the kids are nonstop.”
14 Their Son Has Autism
Jenni has been open on her reality TV appearances about the difficulties her son has experienced. The celebrity and her husband became particularly concerned when he wasn’t able to speak at the age of two. So, after much testing, Greyson was finally diagnosed with autism.
“He has co-therapies [every] week but we’re going to step it up a notch soon and get him [Applied Behavior Analysis] treatments,” she told Hollywood Life, adding, “[He’s] made leaps and bounds when it comes to speech.”
“He’s understanding words better which was his issue,” Jenni continued. “Not that he couldn’t speak, but he would never know what his shoe is or if you said, ‘Greyson,’ he actually didn’t even know his name at one point until he was a little over two. So now that he’s understanding simple words, he’s come so far.”
13 Roger Parties When He Has The Kids
There have been a lot of insults thrown around between Jenni and Roger in recent months. Just this May, Jenni went on an online rant against her estranged husband for seemingly going out to party even though it was his weekend with the kids.
“When you find out on Wednesday your kids will be with someone other than their father over the weekend because he wants to rage during HIS time because it’s been planned ‘for months,’” she wrote online. “Yeahhhh ok. Loving all your ‘dad posts.’”
Jenni’s posts prompted Roger to respond to the backlash. “Had this night planned for a few months now,” he wrote alongside a bunch of party pictures from the night in question. “Kids are enjoying a sleepover with my best friend's kids…and [Dad's] going to see @louiedevito tonight with some [20-year] friends…”
12 They Had A Domestic Dispute Last Year
Just before the Christmas holidays, Jenni and Roger made headlines when the police were called to their home over a domestic dispute.
In December, authorities were called to their home over a “civil matter” around 1 a.m., police spokeswoman Jillian Messina said, as The Ashley reports. “Mr. Mathews was served with a temporary restraining order and provided transportation to another location,” she added.
Roger was transported to a friend’s house where he stayed the night. Roger later said via social media that he was the one who called the police because Jenni had been acting erratically.
11 Jenni Got A Restraining Order Against Roger
As a result of the estranged couple’s debacle in December, Jenni was granted a temporary restraining order against her ex.
Surveillance footage, which was released by Jenni’s bestie Snooki, showed the reality star telling police she wanted Roger to stay away from her. She did, however, say she didn’t want this to prevent him from seeing the kids. “He should be allowed to see them… He’s not a bad dad,” she told the officers, Radar Online reports.
Roger says that he initially went home after his disagreement with Jenni but returned that same night after learning she’d got a restraining order, which then led to the cops being called.
10 She Claims That He Mistreated Her
Fans remain in the dark about the real reason why Jenni and Roger are divorcing. Despite all of the harsh things the exes have said about one another, they’ve both maintained that the other is a good parent. Nevertheless, just this January, Jenni hinted that her estranged husband was known to mistreat her in a condemning letter she posted to her website. Could that be why she’s seeking full custody?
“You are an abuser to the core, Roger,” she wrote. “You have spit at me. You have [hurt me.] You have prevented me from closing doors to [get away from you]. You have [brought me down.] You have contacted my bosses to attempt to smear my name and hurt my public image.”
9 Roger Wouldn’t Pay Their Nanny
Jenni has posted various videos and photos to try and prove the things she’s said against her ex. This past January, after Roger filed papers to have their prenuptial agreement ignored, Jenni posted screenshots of a text conversation between her and their nanny in which the nanny said Roger was refusing to pay her.
“He won’t give me an answer if he would pay me,” one of the texts from her nanny, identified as Kim in the posts, read. “Told him if he can’t pay me I won’t be there at 6:45. He said financial stuff like that [he] has to go through lawyers,” the nanny continued. To this, Jenni replied saying, “What?!” Hopefully the nanny ended up getting paid for her time!
8 Her New Boyfriend Was At Their Wedding
Given that things are still unresolved between Roger and Jenni, many fans were surprised to learn the mother-of-two recently moved on - and it’s with a family friend, too!
According to People, Jenni’s new beau Zack Clayton Carpinello attended her 2015 nuptials to Roger. The magazine reports that the reality star met her wrestling boyfriend through his sister, Erica.
A year after Jenni and Roger’s wedding, Zack even congratulated them online. “One year ago at #WowwWedding where I had an awesome time with @errrrrriccaaa,” he wrote. “Happy anniversary @jwoww @rogermathewsnj.” We wonder what he would’ve written had he known he’d be dating Jenni in a few short years!
7 Jenni Says Roger Tried To Get Money Out Of Her
Although Jenni and Roger have said multiple times they don’t want any more drama, it just keeps on coming for them. Earlier this year, Jenni surprised fans when she admitted online that her estranged husband tried to get his hands on her money.
According to The Ashley, Roger tried teaming up with her ex-boyfriend Tom Lippolis (who she dated in the early seasons of Jersey Shore) who’d attempted to get $25,000 from Jenni in exchange for not going to the media with personal details about her life. Tom was arrested mere weeks before Jenni and Roger’s domestic dispute.
“You personally researched the whereabouts and contacted ex-boyfriends of mine to inflict harm upon me after I filed for divorce and you were removed from the home as a result of a temporary restraining order,” Jenni wrote online. “Because of you proactively contacting an ex-boyfriend of mine to team up against me, he was arrested for trying to [obtain] money from me. You didn’t stop there... You persisted to try to take me down.”
6 But He Wants Her Mentally Evaluated
While asking for full custody as well as spousal support, Roger has also requested to a judge that his soon-to-be ex-wife’s mental status be evaluated by health professionals, The Ashley reports. The news came after Jenni went online to say that her ex had mistreated her during their time together.
“I sit here humbly before you today, a pretty heartbroken man in light of recent circumstances,” Roger said in a video explaining himself. “Things were said about me in a long, rambling rant... that was highly erroneous and had many lies in it.
“I had a speech prepared for me by my attorneys that I was going to read but I decided not to read it and just shoot from the hip,” he continued. “We’re going to address this in court, which is the proper place to address it.”
5 Roger Misses His Son’s Therapy Appointments
Jenni and Roger have been open about their son’s health problems and slow development. The little one has been seeing specialists since a young age. But evidently, his parents’ divorce is making it tricky to keep up with appointments.
In January, Jenni publicly criticized her ex for intentionally missing their son’s therapy appointment. “I am curious why you didn’t post last week’s video of Greyson with his therapist on social media?” she wrote online.
“Oh, of course!” she continued. “That would be because you refused to open the door (and you were home) to allow the therapist in for Greyson’s scheduled appointment, even though she stood there knocking and ringing the bell for 30 minutes in the freezing cold…You again ignored the critical medical needs that [Greyson] requires.”
4 Jenni Has Faced Parent-Shamers Online
Both Jenni and Roger have faced a lot of backlash for the circumstances surrounding their divorce. But Jenni has also had to put up with naysayers who critique her parenting skills.
Last year, after posting a photo of her son Greyson in a pool, some fans began calling Jenni out for not putting sunscreen on the toddler, although it was unclear how they could or could not tell if she’d applied it.
"Not even sure why I am even doing this but I feel like schooling people on my previous post," Jenni responded online. "First off, my son is two months and in a salt water pool up to his belly...Probably for a total of 3 minutes. But second is where I need to really educate trolls...Let me explain to the haters that decided to comment about no sunscreen and the dangers bla bla bla."
3 Co-Parenting Has Gotten Easier For Them
Despite the incredible amount of drama Jenni and Roger have gone through since filing for divorce, things seem like they’re finally improving. Earlier this month, Roger told Page Six that his and Jenni’s co-parenting relationship is getting a lot better.
“Co-parenting has been getting much easier and we have a very friendly relationship and do things as a family together which makes the kids very happy. Wish her nothing but positive things,” the dad-of-three said.
Jenni’s representative also confirmed to the publication that things have been going swimmingly. “Jenni’s kids' needs and wants will always come first. She is being an adult about the divorce and [they're] working towards being better co-parents,” the rep said.
2 They Even Celebrated Easter As A Family
Need another sign that things are going better between Jenni and Roger? Just this Easter, the estranged couple managed to celebrate Easter together with their two children, proving that they’re on better terms than they have been in months.
The parents posted tons of videos and pictures from the family-friendly event. Greyson and Meilani could be seen enjoying an egg hunt outside before the whole family decided to play a bit of soccer together. “Beautiful family Easter Day,” Roger captioned his post. His followers expressed how happy they were to see him and his ex getting along for the sake of their children.
1 Roger Is Happy His Wife Has Moved On
Even though they’re not technically divorced yet, Roger is happy that his soon-to-be ex-wife has found someone that makes her happy.
Some fans thought Roger may have a problem with the fact that Jenni’s new beau is a decade younger than her, but that doesn’t seem to be the case. “He seems like a terrific guy and they seem to really be happy, and I’m very happy for them,” 43-year-old Roger said in a statement, Page Six reports.
Jenni has yet to open up about her new boyfriend Zack. But during their podcast, her bestie Snooki revealed that Jenni’s new BF is “very handsome.”
Sources: People, Radar Online, The Ashley’s Reality Roundup, Us Weekly, Page Six