By Jessica Tucker
Kortni Gilson was a fun party girl on Floribama Shore, but there were intense things going on behind the scenes.
Given the popularity of the cast of Jersey Shore and how well spin-off shows from Snooki & JWoww to Jersey Shore Family Vacation did, MTV decided to try a southern version of the reality TV show to see if lightning would strike twice. As such, after finding a dynamic and diverse cast, Floribama Shore debuted in 2017.
The show was met with high viewership for the two-hour premiere. During that time, fans saw bad decisions being made, the potential for scandals to arise, roommates being interested in one another, and drinking. Plenty of drinking. Essentially, Floribama Shore was testing the waters to see if it could compete with not only other reality shows on the network but reality shows in general. And for four seasons, it appeared as though MTV had another reality show winner. Therefore, when the network decided to pull the plug on the series, fans and cast alike were confused by the news, especially since cameras were following cast members to compile footage for Season 5.
Over the course of those seasons, however, fans learned about and followed the lives of cast members Kirk Medas, Gus Smyrnios, Candice Rice, Jeremiah Buoni, Nilsa Prowant, Codi Butts, and Aimee Hall. Kortni Gilson was also part of this group, but she left the show mid-way through Season 3 very abruptly.
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While there was the hope that Gilson would return for Season 4, that never transpired. Replacements were brought in to take her place, but there was a void where Gilson had been. And fans were left without their wacky, funny, and hot-tempered cast mate they had come to love.
Here is who Floribama Shore Kortni Gilson is and where she is now.
Who Is Kortni Gilson From Floribama Shore?
Kortni Gilson is almost a native of Panama City Beach, where the first season of Floribama Shore is filmed. This is because she moved there with her family when she was three. As a result of loving the area, she never left, taking jobs in and around her hometown.
One of the jobs that Gilson took was as a bartender at Coyote Ugly. A job that made her a local celebrity of sorts. When not bartending, the brunette beauty modeled for Me Clothing Line. As such, applying for a job as the talent on a reality TV show was something that was right in Gilson's wheelhouse.
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Given her knowledge of the area as a local in conjunction with Gilson's personality, made her a perfect choice for Floribama Shore. And overnight, Gilson would go from being recognized locally to being recognized nationally as a result of her exposure from the show.
Why Did Kortni Gilson Leave Floribama Shore?
Gilson was instantly a fan favorite on Floribama Shore. Between her hilarious comments and poor decisions made when a little too inebriated, the reality star made for great television viewing.
However, not everything is as it appears. And while Gilson was all smiles and laughter a majority of the time, (with a dash of rage here and there) there was pain bubbling under the surface. The pain came to a head after a night of drinking and taking prescription medication.
What viewers saw was that Gilson was having a breakdown in the back of a cab headed back to the shore house. But, the breakdown got "so intense" that the cameras stopped rolling.
The next thing viewers knew, Gilson said that she was going to leave the show to work on her mental health.
It was not revealed until a later date that the breakdown came from memories that Gilson had of a sexual assault that occurred when she was a teenager.
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"When the cameras shut off, I was screaming about all of the sexual assault that happened to me," Gilson explained to Dr. Drew.
"I couldn’t tell anybody about it. These were guys that I knew, that I thought I was friends with, which was why I felt so stupid to trust somebody."
Fans thought that Gilson would return for Season 4. However, she made the decision to work on herself rather than return to Floribama Shore. And because of this, Season 3 marked the last time viewers would see Gilson on the small screen.
Becoming An Advocate For Mental Health Has Been Kortni Gilson's Focus
Since leaving Floribama Shore, Gilson has not only gotten sober, but has become an advocate for mental health as well.
Part of Gilson's mental health journey has come with her sharing things about herself that would be scary for anyone to admit on social media. More often than not, the platform she chooses to use is Instagram.
Be it from suffering from an eating disorder and how she came to the decision to heal herself and her body to her battle with suicide, speaking out against perceived perfection on social media, how working out has helped her mental health, discovering what truly makes her happy, how to always keep improving, and of course, her journey to living life sober.
As a result of her uplifting social media sites, Gilson has also been able to use her platform to promote products that are in line with her healthy lifestyle. Because of this, not only does she get to make some income sharing details about healthy products, but because they are products that Gilson already uses, she believes in them as well.
In conjunction with those products, Gilson has also introduced her followers to what she has learned in esthetician school. A path that Gilson shared on Instagram that she took to educate herself on why her skin was consistently breaking out.
Whether this becomes a career path or just a hobby has not been announced. But if nothing else, Gilson is showing that it is important to continue to grow and be educated to be the best version of yourself possible.
