19 Facts About Floribama Shore, Reality TV's Wildest Show

The following article references sexual assault.

In 2017, the producers behind MTV mega-hit reality show "Jersey Shore" unleashed a similar — if not near-identical — series set in a different part of the country. "Floribama Shore" featured a party-loving crew of eight young, good-looking Southerners, filming their antics as they shacked up together in a beach house on the Gulf Coast. The first season introduced audiences to Jeremiah Buoni, Candace Rice, Codi Butts, Aimee Hall, Kortni GIlson, Kirk Medas, Nilsa Prowant, and Gus Smyrnios.

In a statement to Deadline, producers described the series as a "coming of age story" that promised to capture "the very real thrill and angst of being young and trying to figure out the future with a group of people you'll come to call family." As viewers came to see, however, that description left out a few key details, such as the excessive binge-drinking, frequent vomiting and the occasional arrest.

It didn't take long for "Floribama Shore" to make its mark. Mere weeks after the series' premiere, the show received the ultimate pop-culture anointment when it was hilariously spoofed by "Saturday Night Live." The show continued to draw viewers who couldn't get enough of the hard-partying cast. Despite what fans think they may or may not know about the show, there's plenty to learn by reading on to discover the untold truth of "Floribama Shore."

While "Floribama Shore" may have sent its cast drunkenly careening into two new states for Season 4, the third season likewise brought about a change of venues. While the first two seasons were based in Florida's Panama City Beach, the third relocated the gang to St. Petersburg. As reported by Spectrum News, the cast switched cities in the wake of Hurricane Michael. 

For some citizens of St. Pete, becoming the new home of "Floribama Shore" was a somewhat dubious honor. According to a report in the Tampa Bay Times, two local bars agreed to give producers "nearly unlimited access" for filming. However, there were far more establishments that, when offered the chance to be part of the "Floribama Shore" legacy, declined. "We told them no," said Michael Brinkmann, manager of St. Petersburg watering hole the Emerald. "The nature of reality shows are drama. We don't need that nonsense."

Then again, "nonsense" ultimately outweighed boredom for St. Petersburg resident Nancy Pappas, who lives across the street in the rented four-bedroom home in the suburb of Punta Vista where the "Floribama Shores" cast shacked up. "I'd film them now and then," Pappas told the Times of having a booze-fueled reality show film in her neighborhood. "It was the most excitement Punta Vista has ever seen."

Like Godzilla throwing down with King Kong, or Freddie Krueger from "Nightmare on Elm Street" facing off against "Friday the 13th" psycho Jason Voorhees, it was more or less inevitable that the "Floribama Shore" crew would eventually go head-to-head with their television forebears. That came to pass when Nilsa Prowant, Jeremiah Buoni, Kirk Medas, and Aimee Hall of "Floribama Shore" competed against "Jersey Shore" stars Paul "Pauly D" DelVecchio, Ronnie Ortiz-Magro, Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi, and Deena Cortese in an episode of MTV's "Celebrity Fear Factor."

According to the show's host, rapper/actor Ludacris, the "Floribama Shore" cast appeared to have the edge in the competition. "I think the 'Floribama' kids had something to prove," he told MTV News. "They were like, 'We are going to beat these people who we look up to.'" However, when it came to sheer entertainment value, Ludacris had to give it up for "Jersey Shore" — specifically, the most famous/notorious member of the cast. "Snooki was extremely entertaining," Ludacris confirmed. "She was funny as hell."

There could only be one winner, though. After a series of freaky contests — including one that involved transferring scorpions, millipedes and other creepy-crawly creatures mouth to mouth —  Prowant and Buoni of "Floribama Shore" emerged victorious.

When the show returned for a fifth season in September 2021, a brief teaser for the new batch of episodes revealed yet another change of venue. After two rounds in Panama City, another in St. Petersburg, and then one that split time between Montana and Arizona, the new season sent the crew to Athens, Georgia. 

Also introduced in the promo were some new members of the cast — non-human ones. In addition to a dog, "Floribama Shore" Season 5 welcomed Aimee Hall's new pet pig. "Piggy, are you ready to go to Athens?" Hall asks her porcine pal in the clip. Meanwhile, there also happened to be a glimpse of a scene in which Gus Smyrnios lifts a small black goat off the floor of their house. Goat big or goat home.

Hall's new pet has one whopper of a name: Princess Goddess Piggy Tutor May Massengill Hall Johnson. As for how she became a pig parent, the reality star offered an explanation (of sorts) in an interview with TV Insider. "I just love animals," she said. "I have a bunch of dogs and cats, and now I wanted me a piggy. So I got me one." 

Just as "Jersey Shore" foisted some new slang into the pop culture conversation — "GTL," for example — so too did "Floribama Shore." In a video for Page Six, Codi Butts, Nilsa Prowant, and Gus Smyrnios detailed some of the show's unique lingo. One such phrase is "actin' a donkey," which Prowant said meant someone was "acting crazy... calm down." Another is "hold your biscuits," which Smyrnios translated as "brace yourself," something he's prone to tell passengers in a vehicle he's driving when he is about to make an unanticipated turn or swerve. 

Then there's "caddywhompus," which Butts described as being "all flustered and frustrated, or in a tizzy, and you're like, 'Dang, you got me all caddywhompus, and I don't know which way is up or down. I don't know which way I'm going." 

Meanwhile, the trio also offered the definition of "skeeza," which Butts explained is "Floribama Shore" slang for "a floozy, a skank." And just when you thought things couldn't get more respectful, he provided a charming description in which he compared a woman's legs to peanut butter. Okay, then.

When the fourth season returned to MTV in 2021, Kortni Gilson was no longer a part of the "Floribama Shore" shenanigans. What neither fans of the show nor Gilson's co-stars realized was that she was still battling the deep trauma of being sexually assaulted at the age of 16. 

She opened up about her decision to exit the show in an interview with Dr. Drew Pinsky for MTV News. It came to a head, she recalled, when she unexpectedly broke down during filming of an episode. "I thought I had been rock bottom before, but that was an all-time low," she said. "After the cameras were off, I was talking about sexual assault that happened to me and how I wasn't OK." By March 2021, however, she took to Instagram to reveal she was doing a lot better after reaching out for help and undergoing therapy. "Life changed for me when I asked for help," she wrote, concluding on an inspirational note. "Growth is a process and it takes time and practice to get where you want to be," she advised her followers. "Don't give up keep going."

If you or anyone you know has been a victim of sexual assault, help is available. Visit the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network website or contact RAINN's National Helpline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).

There's been much discussion over the years about just how real so-called reality TV actually is, with plenty of speculation that "Floribama Shore" and its ilk are at least partially scripted. However, according to a former resident of Panama City Beach — home to the first two seasons of "Floribama Shore" — the show certainly rang true to her experience.

Writing for Vice, Opheli Garcia Lawlor revealed she'd once lived in Panama City Beach before fleeing in order to escape "a small town run on nepotism, Republicanism, racism, and religion." In Garcia Lawlor's account, one scene in particular, featuring a street fight, "looked like every other fight I'd ever seen growing up. Maybe this show about Panama City got a few things right." In fact, she found the title of the first episode — "Eat, Pray, Party" — to be "incredibly accurate."

Intrigued by this reality show set in her one-time home, she got in touch with townsfolk with whom she hadn't been in contact with for years in order to solicit their opinions. While some thought the show was a poor reflection of their town, others seemed "disappointed and confused" that, as one person said, the series "shows Panama City in a terrible way." Ultimately, the writer admitted, "Watching the show made me really grateful I got out of my hometown. But it also made me appreciate the fact that people are pretty much insane disasters everywhere you go."

Pregnant with her first child, Nilsa Prowant experienced a very different season of "Floribama Shore" than her co-stars as they engaged in the usual booze-fueled antics. Being the sole sober cast member in the house, Prowant admitted she felt her maternal instincts kick in. "I need to be grateful because filming this time around, while pregnant, really prepared me for motherhood," she told Us Weekly. "It's like I had six drunk kids at all times. I gotta make sure they stay alive."

On May 20, 2021, Prowant announced that her baby had arrived. In an Instagram post, the new mom shared a photo of herself, fiancé Gus Gazda, and new arrival Gray Allen Gazda — after "31 hours of labor," she revealed. "He is completely perfect in every single possible way. We are so blessed!" she wrote in the caption.

However, that's not to say Prowant hasn't experienced some complications along the way. In a previous Instagram post, she told her social media followers that she'd been diagnosed with polyhydramnios, a condition that the Mayo Clinic defines as "excessive accumulation of amniotic fluid," meaning needed to be monitored closely for the duration of her pregnancy. And in September 2021, Prowant told Us Weekly that she has struggled with postpartum depression. "Motherhood is hard, but [I'll] get through it. ... I would suffer from postpartum depression every single day of my life if it means I get to have my son," she shared.

If you or someone you know is struggling with mental health, please contact the Crisis Text Line by texting HOME to 741741, call the National Alliance on Mental Illness helpline at 1-800-950-NAMI (6264), or visit the National Institute of Mental Health website.

Both MTV and the stars of "Floribama Shore" benefited from the show's success — and they weren't the only ones. According to a 2019 report in the Tampa Bay Times, Florida's Pinellas County — home to St. Petersburg, where the show was filmed — experienced some tangible economic perks from the show when filming moved there from its original home of Panama City. 

In fact, Visit St. Pete/Clearwater, a local tourism organization, told the Times that the show was not only employed dozens of residents, but apparently brought in thousands of hotel room bookings and millions of dollars to local businesses. Al Johnson, mayor of St. Pete Beach, said he didn't see any downside to his town's association with "Floribama Shore." "I'm hopeful, if nothing else, that people will know we exist, that it will put us on the map," he said.

And it looks like the owners of the original "Floribama" house are trying to cash in on the show's popularity. As Creative Loafing reported in November 2022, one of the abodes where the cast lived hit the market. As of this writing, the asking price is at $3.7 million.

After that initial cease and desist, the owners of Flora-Bama Lounge and Oyster Bar refused to back down. In fact, they amped things up in 2019 by launching a full-fledged lawsuit against Viacom-CBS. As Alabama news site AL.com reported, the trademark-infringement suit alleged that 495 Productions, which produced "Floribama Shore" for MTV, sent an email to the bar to float the possibility of shooting the reality series in the establishment. The bar's marketing director, however, made it clear that the bar wanted nothing to do with the show. 

The suit went on to claim that the bar had become a popular establishment over the years, and contended that being associated with a "Jersey Shore"-like reality show would be damaging. "Among other activities, the cast of the show, as televised, takes part in binge drinking, public urination, and barroom brawls," the suit maintained.

It took a few years to wind its way through the legal system, but in late 2022 Reuters reported that a decision had been reached, with the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling in favor Viacom-CBS. According to the ruling, there was no infringement of the bar's trademark under the First Amendment, since the word "Floribama" was used for an "artistic work."