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After taking a break from filming MTV’s Jersey Shore: Family Vacation season four to focus on his mental health and sobriety, Ronnie Ortiz-Magro plans to return to the reality show. The 35-year-old star told TMZ what he has been up to these past four months.
“I feel great. Four months sober. I quit drinking, got engaged, full-time father, you know, living a good life,” he told the publication. “I stepped away [from Jersey Shore] to deal with my mental health, be a father to my child, be a fiancé to my woman. I‘ll be back and, you know, all the fans love me, and I love them too, so I’m going to give them what they want, and I’ll see them soon.”
Ortiz-Magro, who is half Puerto Rican and half Italian, told the outlet that he‘s “very close” with his cast members and that his role in the show is “definitely not over.”
“After talking to the team at MTV, we have mutually agreed that I will step away from the show while I seek medical treatment for mental health issues that I‘ve ignored for too long,” he wrote in a statement on his Instagram Story, announcing he will be out of Jersey Shore: Family Vacation.
“My number one goal now is facing my struggles head-on,” he continued. During the season, Ortiz-Magro introduced to his roommates his also Puerto Rican and Italian girlfriend, Saffire Matos. The pair later got engaged in an intimate picnic surrounded by family.
“Ronnie has been taken this time to work on himself and his daughter,” a source told PEOPLE. “For him, he felt like this right time. They‘re both really happy for this next chapter. His health and happiness are what is most important.”