The Gottis are back! It’s been a decade since Victoria Gotti and her sons Carmine, John and Frankie graced our TV screens on Growing Up Gotti, but the foursome is back on Nov. 10 for an A&E special, Growing Up Gotti: 10 Years Later.
Throughout the reunion special, the family will reminisce on old episodes and update viewers on what they’re up to today. Ahead of the episode’s airing, Victoria opened up to Star about how the series affected her family’s lives, what viewers can expect from the hour-long special and if her swoon-worthy sons are single!
What can viewers expect from the reunion special?
What they’re going to enjoy most about it is that the boys are all grown up, they’re young men. When they were doing the show, they were teenagers. Now, they’ve grown into their own skin. They are all unique in their own way. Each person that had interest in the show back then will really be surprised at how they’ve morphed into the young men that they are. Those that hadn’t seen the show before will just enjoy it for the simple value of it’s a great show. It was really done in the best possible light and I think it’s hysterical.
What have you been up to in the last 10 years?
What haven’t I been up to in the last 10 years?! Writing books, I manage a lot of investment properties of mine. We’re launching a new lifestyle website, a product line. I don’t have a day’s rest.
How does it feel for your and your family to be returning to reality TV for this special?
When the network approached us back in March I couldn’t believe it had been 10 years. It felt right, it was very enjoyable to do and we had a blast.
How has the show affect Carmine, John and Frankie’s lives today?
It affected them in a very good way. Back in the day, it could’ve gone either way. Either everybody becomes monsters and their heads become so big they can’t fit in the room and you have to pull them back to Earth, or it’s a really great learning experience and they take it with them further down the road in their lives. I was so happy that it was the latter of the two. They never had that stupid mentality that, with all the girls chasing them and all the girls throwing themselves at them, they were never what you could call players. They really always have been in relationships — they’re one women men. When we’re offered temptation in our face we kind of want to go for it and try it, but they didn’t and I love them more for it. It’s made them better men.
They would tell you that they did not like it at that age. They’re going to school all day and they’re coming home and being told, ‘Hey, mic up…No, you can’t go out with your friends.’ That was always a headache with them. But now they tell me when we’re talking about other things that the show actually really kept them focused and kept them probably occupied and distracted from either hanging out with the wrong kids or making stupid choices.
Carmine and Frankie are in relationships, while John is engaged! What else have your sons been up to in the last 10 years?
Now the three of them, ironically from the fighting they used to do on the show, are three super close brothers. But they’re also business partners. They own four steel metal plants and they run and operate them together and each one has his place and his value to the company. They’ve come to know that they need each other in life and they’ve become more dependent on the other. It’s really great to watch them now, by choice, say, ‘Hey, you get your girlfriend this weekend and I’ll grab mine and we’ll go take a trip.’ I think it’s great that they chose to hang out with each other. Their home life and their work life now depends on it so they enjoy each other’s company and they enjoy discussing shop, business related things. They’re not comfortable unless they’re together.
When the show aired from 2004 to 2005, it caused a Hotti Gotti frenzy! Do you think the reunion special will spark another?
One night my doorbell rang at 2:53 AM. And there were five bubbly girls out there that looked like they had a bit to drink. They just came down to this desolate area and they’re standing outside my home, ringing the bell as if it’s 3:00 in the afternoon. I come down in my robe thinking the worst…and there are these five or six girls at the door laughing and asking me if they could please use the bathroom, they’re lost. I later learned they were a bunch of girls from out of town who went to a club in the area and wanted to go find the Hotti Gotti’s house. And they did! It was really funny, but that happens all the time. Do I think it would start a craze today? I don’t know. But I can tell you they’re back, they look amazing and they’ve morphed into the greatest young men.
Can fans expect fan favorites like Luigi and Quack Quack to return to the special?
I think fans are going to be happy because a lot of the old is incorporated into this and they’re going to see a lot of stuff. Everyone is going to be pleasantly surprised by the old favorites and a couple of walks down memory lane.
Growing Up Gotti: 10 Years Later airs Monday, Nov. 10 at 9/8c on A&E.
