Reality television star Jenni 'JWoww' Farley and professional athlete Zack Clayton Carpinello surprised family and friends with a secret wedding ceremony on Tuesday, June 24, 2026, culminating a relationship that began in early 2019 and weathered both public scrutiny and a brief separation.
The couple orchestrated an elaborate ruse, inviting loved ones to what they believed would be a movie screening for Nanny Cam. Instead, guests arrived to witness the pair exchange vows in a Beauty and the Beast-themed ceremony, according to People magazine.
"We've spent months keeping this secret, creating invitations, planning the movie-themed details, and building the surprise," the newlyweds told People. "Seeing our family and friends go from thinking they're attending a special screening for Nanny Cam to realizing they're actually at our wedding will be a moment we'll never forget."
The nuptials mark the conclusion of a lengthy engagement that began in February 2021, when Carpinello proposed atop the Empire State Building. Farley, known for her role on Jersey Shore: Family Vacation, revealed the engagement publicly in March 2021.
The extended timeline between engagement and wedding reflected the complexity of planning a destination ceremony. "I'm trying, then I'm not trying," Farley told Us Weekly in January 2023. "I really wanna do it out of the country, but then to do that you gotta kind of … rely on people abroad to do it."
A Relationship Forged Through Challenges
Farley and Carpinello made their relationship public in April 2019, following the reality star's September 2018 separation from Roger Mathews after three years of marriage. Farley shares two children with Mathews: daughter Meilani and son Greyson.
The couple's romance faced its first major test in October 2019, when Us Weekly confirmed their split following an episode of Jersey Shore: Family Vacation that showed Carpinello flirting with cast member Angelina Pivarnick. Farley addressed the incident publicly on Instagram, stating she felt disrespected by someone she called a friend and someone who claimed to love her.
The separation proved brief. Within weeks, the pair reunited for a weekend getaway at Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida, and Us Weekly confirmed their reconciliation in late October 2019. Carpinello subsequently posted a heartfelt declaration on social media, writing that Farley meant everything to him and expressing his desire to remain by her side for the rest of time.
The relationship's foundation predates their romantic involvement. Carpinello attended Farley's October 2015 wedding to Mathews, a detail he revealed through a throwback Instagram photograph posted one year later.
Public Declarations and Private Moments
Throughout their relationship, both Farley and Carpinello have shared glimpses of their partnership through social media and reality television. The couple made their awards show debut at the 2019 CMT Music Awards in June 2019, followed by an appearance at the 2019 MTV Movie & TV Awards later that month.
Farley has been candid about the unexpected nature of their connection. Speaking on the MTV reality show, she acknowledged never expecting to date someone younger than herself, describing them as completely different and noting Carpinello was not her typical style. Despite these differences, she praised the relationship's intensity and compatibility.
The couple has integrated their lives beyond romantic outings, with Carpinello developing relationships with Farley's children. In September 2019, when an Instagram user criticized the timeline of introducing Carpinello to the children, he defended the decision publicly.
Recent years have seen the couple maintaining a steady presence together, from Halloween celebrations dressed as Harry Potter characters alongside Farley's children in October 2022, to a romantic getaway in Canada in January 2023, and a date night at Madison Modern Social's one-year anniversary celebration in March 2026.
The surprise wedding represents both the culmination of their journey and the beginning of their married life together, executed with the theatrical flair befitting a reality television personality and the privacy they have occasionally sought throughout their relationship.
About the Author
Ava Hart
Ava Hart is a pop culture junkie and loves to share what's happening in Hollywood and what trends are taking the world by storm.
