Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi is best known for her larger-than-life personality on Jersey Shore, but her latest television adventure takes her far from the beach and into some of Canada’s reportedly most haunted locations – including two spots in Hamilton.
In Snooki: The Paranormal Rookie, the reality television personality explores the supernatural alongside a team of experienced investigators, including Canadian psychic medium Kevin Whitaker and occult expert and historian Missy Morrow.
We spoke with Whitaker and Morrow about the show.
For Whitaker, joining the series was a natural extension of work he has been doing for decades.
Morrow brings a different perspective to the group.
Alongside her interest in witchcraft and the occult, she is passionate about historical research and collecting unusual objects and stories.
She also works as a fashion designer and seamstress, creating costumes for drag performers, burlesque artists and other stage performers.
The series follows Polizzi as she learns the ropes of paranormal investigation, bringing her curiosity and belief in the supernatural to historic buildings and other locations with eerie reputations.
With Whitaker’s experience, Morrow’s historical knowledge and tech specialist Todd Thomas’s investigative equipment, the team sets out to explore the stories and unexplained experiences connected to each site.
The series is built around a side of Polizzi that audiences may not know as well as her Jersey Shore persona.
According to Whitaker and Morrow, her interest in the paranormal is genuine, and bringing that passion to television was a project that took time.
The series takes the team to locations across Canada, with each investigation offering a different setting and its own collection of stories.
The premiere episode, The Secret Society, takes place at Tuckett Mansion in Hamilton.
This Friday, a new episode comes out that features an Abandoned Office space in Hamilton.
He explained that the building did not have an obvious paranormal history, which made it an unusual choice for an investigation.
Whitaker said he was interested in the possibility that an abandoned location might attract spirits with no direct connection to the building itself.
During the investigation, he said, he experienced impressions that he associated with two men who may have been homeless.
Morrow had researched the surrounding area and said she was surprised when some of the details Whitaker described appeared to connect with stories she had uncovered.
Whitaker also recalled feeling rattled during the investigation, despite the confidence Polizzi had come to associate with him as her mentor.
He encourages everyone to check out the show, saying some of the evidence gathered is truly incredible.
Morrow, meanwhile, said the abandoned building suited her adventurous side.
She described exploring dark corners of the property whenever she was not needed on camera, even as the rest of the crew occasionally had to track her down.
The experience, she said, was memorable for reasons beyond the investigation itself.
Morrow recounted finding dead birds and a rabbit inside the building.
She said she brought the animals home, cleaned and preserved them, and added them to her taxidermy collection rather than leave them behind in the abandoned property.
The stories offer a glimpse into the personalities behind the investigations, as well as the different experiences the team encounters while filming.
For Polizzi, the series represents an opportunity to pursue an interest that has been important to her for years, rather than simply revisiting the reality television format that made her famous.
Whether audiences are drawn by the history of the buildings, the investigators’ different approaches or the prospect of seeing Snooki outside her usual television setting, the series offers a new look at Canada’s haunted lore.
Snooki: The Paranormal Rookie is available on Crave.
