Lily Jade is finally ready to address being branded as “the villain” of the Jersey Shore spinoff Aussie Shore season 1 — and why she decided to make a return for season 2.
“I think they jumped the gun,” Jade, 22, exclusively told Us Weekly ahead of the season 2 premiere, referring to the public’s opinion of her character. “Going in, I thought, ‘People like me. I’m nice. I can be mean here and there, but that’s what you do when you have to stand up for yourself.’ Once it was airing, the backlash was insane. I’ve never experienced something like that before.”
Jade had never been on TV — let alone the spotlight — before appearing on 2024’s season 1, where she had sex onscreen and was accused of not being a “girl’s girl.” While being on the receiving end of an endless onslaught of online comments, Jade was also dealing with her first heartbreak.
“I haven’t had so many people at that volume telling me they don’t like me or they want me to go die or they’re gonna come find me,” she said. “I was so shocked because I would talk to some of the other cast members and they were not getting the reaction I was getting. I guess I was named or branded as the villain of the show. Being a little 21 year old, I was a bit like, ‘Wow, everyone hates me.’ I honestly thought my life was over.”
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While Jade explained that “90 percent” of the comments from her haters were on social media, she noted that there were “definitely” some in-person interactions.
“When I would go out — even with my family — I would have young girls or girls my age come up to me and call me, ‘I’m a bitch, or you’re such a bully, you’re not a girl’s girl,’ things like that,” Jade shared. “At the end of the day, it is still just a TV show. I can’t control how you think about me, but you have to remember it is TV. It’s not real life.”
As she navigated the backlash, Jade launched her OnlyFans and briefly turned off social media accounts before handing over the control to someone else — but she still periodically checked in on what her followers were saying.
“It’s hard when it’s 12 a.m. at night and you’re curious [about] what everyone’s saying,” she said. “Sometimes I would log in or look into the comments or even look on my fake account. I would go to my real account and have a look at all the things. It’s hard to ignore when it was at that volume of people. Because the show was airing for 10 weeks, obviously people were talking about it for 10 weeks, but then the hate continued. It’s still continuing now, even a year later.”
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Looking back, Jade admitted she has “no idea” how she got through those days. While her parents supported her, Jade noted that they have “never dealt with a situation like that before.”
“People can say, ‘Oh, I know how you feel and I’m here for you.’ But they actually really don’t until you are in that position,” Jade said. “I pretty much had the whole of Australia telling me I’m a bad person and they hate me and all loads of horrible things. I definitely was letting it get to me a little bit.”
Despite thinking she wouldn’t return to the show, Jade ultimately made the decision that she would reappear on season 2.
“Before I went in, I really was going back and forth from like, ‘Do I want to change anything? Do I want to act nicer for a good edit?’ I was trying to think of all these things that I could do to make myself feel better,” she said. “But I don’t know. I just thought to myself, ‘Why should I need to do that for a TV show?’ I should never have to change how I act or who I am, because all my family and friends on the outside like me. That’s what I should really care about.”
Jade shared that she approached season 2 of the show “guns blazing” and “wasn’t really holding back,” including deciding to tell “people exactly how [she] was feeling.” As for what viewers can expect with the show’s second go-round, Jade teased that there’s “way more drama.” She added, “There’s lots of love drama, I would say.”
Aussie Shore season 2 premieres on Paramount+ Thursday, September 25.
