The 'Jersey Shore' star was released from prison on Sept. 12.
The taste of freedom couldn't have been sweeter for Mike "The Situation" Sorrentino.
Only ET has an exclusive look at the moment Mike walked away from prison as a free man last year, after eight months behind bars. The clip, from Thursday's Jersey Shore: Family Vacation, shows Mike walking arm and arm with his wife, Lauren, with one hand pointed to the sky.
"I feel like Rocky Balboa," Mike confesses in the clip, breaking down in tears over how "proud" he was of himself.
Mike was released from the Federal Correctional Institution in Otisville, New York, on Sept. 12 after serving his sentence for tax evasion.
ET exclusively sat down with Mike for his first interview after his release from prison in September, where he opened up about feeling like a "changed man."
"Oh my god, to be a free man, to be honest with you, it's awesome," he shared. "It's fantastic. I have my beautiful wife next to me. I'm healthy, I'm sober, back at work with my best friends on the No. 1 show on MTV and just living the dream."
He told ET that it was Lauren whom he missed most while behind bars.
"You sort of take your freedom for granted sometimes," he admitted. "Once you get out, you are taking advantage [of] every minute. Every second, every meal, every conversation with my beautiful wife, with my friends. I love my job, so I am on such an awesome road and we are very excited to see what the future has to offer."
Jersey Shore: Family Vacation airs Thursdays on MTV.
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