MTV's Jersey Shore Gets New Castmember Deena Cortese

The newest member of the hit MTV reality series "Jersey Shore" was introduced to an excited audience during a meet-and-greet at the Television Critics Association Friday. Deena Nicole Cortese, a 23-year-old New Jersey native, is the latest addition to the 'Jersey Shore' cast and replaces recent addition Angelina Pivarnick who did not join the cast on stage.

Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi later told the audience Angelina didn't work out with the cast and said the rest of the Jersey Shore cast was too high maintenance for her.

Deena, who is originally from New Egypt, New Jersey called herself an "Upgrade" from Angelina and she was excited about joining the cast and giving them a run for their money when it comes to drinking and partying.

Cortese was reportedly Snooki's real life best friend and came highly recommended to the producers of the MTV reality show by Snooki.

The newest episodes of season two have been filmed over the past month in Seaside Heights with Angelina Pivarnick, but will pick up starting this week with Deena.

But Deena's arrival at Jersey Shore hasn't been without controversy. Immediately after rumors started spreading two weeks ago that Deena was joining the cast a video of her using a racial slur was released by RadarOnline, TMZ and made its way to Youtube.

Addressing the controversy, Cortese told the crowd, "I wasn't expecting that right away. That video, I literally didn't mean any disrespect to anyone. If I did offend anyone, I apologize. It's just a slang word I said and didn't mean it. I didn't want to offend anyone. It wasn't disrespectful at all."

The shows second season was filmed in Miami's South Beach and features cast members Angelina Pivarnick, Snooki, Pauly D, Mike "The Situation" Sorrentino, Jenni "J-Woww" Farley, Sammi "Sweetheart" Giancola, Ronnie Magro and Vinny Guadagnino. Cortese will be introduced when the show starts season three in New Jersey.

The cast also said Deena was a perfect fit for the cast and they have been enjoying the time with her.