Deena Nicole Cortese Net Worth

What is Deena Nicole Cortese's Net Worth and Salary?

Deena Nicole Cortese (now known as Deena Nicole Buckner) is an American reality TV star who has a net worth of $2 million. Cortese is best known for starring on the MTV reality series "Jersey Shore" (2010–2012) and "Jersey Shore: Family Vacation" (2018–present).

Early Life

Deena Nicole Cortese was born on January 12, 1987, in New Egypt, New Jersey. She grew up with Italian-American parents, Joan and John, and sister Joanie; sadly, John passed away from leukemia in 2016. Deena attended New Egypt High School, where she participated in dance and was a member of the cheerleading squad. After graduation, she enrolled at Brookdale Community College, but she dropped out before earning her degree.

Career

Cortese and her good friend Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi both auditioned for the first season of the MTV reality series "Jersey Shore," but only Nicole made it onto the show. Two years later, after Angelina Pivarnick left the show and Deena had earned her dental assistant's license, she re-auditioned and became a cast member for season three. Cortese, who has described herself as a "blast in a glass," became a popular figure on the show, which also starred Paul "Pauly D" DelVecchio, Jennifer "JWoww" Farley, Samantha Giancola ("Sammi Sweetheart "), Vinny Guadagnino, Ronnie Ortiz-Magro, and Mike " The Situation" Sorrentino. Deena appeared on more than 50 episodes of the series, and in 2018, she reunited with the cast for "Jersey Shore: Family Vacation." The first season followed the cast as they vacationed in Miami, and in the fall of 2020, the cast filmed season four in a "quarantine bubble" at the Hilton Lake Las Vegas Resort.

Valerie Macon/Getty Images

Cortese also appeared on eight episodes of the "Jersey Shore" spin-off "Snooki & JWoww" between 2012 and 2015, and Deena and her future husband, Christopher Buckner, were on VH1's "Couples Therapy" in 2014. She appeared on MTV's "When I Was 17" in 2010 and had a cameo on the MTV game show "Silent Library" in 2011. In 2018, Cortese and Polizzi competed on "Celebrity Fear Factor" and had to move a scorpion, crab, hornworm, and millipede using only their mouths. In 2020, the "Jersey Shore: Family Vacation" cast competed against the cast of "The Hills: New Beginnings" on "Celebrity Family Feud."

(Photo by Astrid Stawiarz/Getty Images)

Personal Life

Deena became engaged to Christopher Buckner in November 2016, and they married on October 28, 2017. Before the ceremony, Cortese sewed a piece of her late father's shirt into her dress and wrote on Instagram, "Even though you won't be with me tomorrow physically .. I'll have a piece of you with me and close to my heart while I'm walking down the aisle. I love and miss you daddy." Deena and Christopher welcomed son Christopher John (better known as CJ) on January 5, 2019, and they gave him a little brother, Cameron Theo, on May 1, 2021. In June 2012, Cortese was arrested for disorderly conduct after dancing in the street and impeding traffic in Seaside Heights, New Jersey. A few weeks later, she was ordered to pay a fine of $106 plus $33 in court costs.