Late Night: Snooki and Newt Gingrich get cozy on Jay Leno’s couch

Politics makes strange bedfellows, and apparently so does late-night television.

Wednesday on “The Tonight Show,” “Jersey Shore” star and mom-to-be Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi found herself on Jay Leno’s couch, seated next to former presidential candidate Newt Gingrich. It was an odd pairing, to say the least, but by the end of the segment, Snooks and Gingrich were, to quote another New Jersey reality-TV star, “as thick as thieves.”

Gingrich is not exactly known for his genial disposition, but it seems even he is not immune to Snooki’s unique charms. Although the former House speaker claimed he’d only seen clips of “Jersey Shore,” never an entire episode, he did know about Snooki’s impressive track record as an author. “Congratulations on having two New York Times bestsellers,” he said, sounding very much like he meant it.

“Thank you. I’m trying to be like you,” Snooki replied, which we can only assume means her next book will be a historical novel about the Civil War.

Later, as the conversation turned to Snooki’s bachelorette plans, she asked Gingrich whether he had strippers at his bachelor party. (She didn’t specify which one.)

According to Gingrich, his wife Calista, had not allowed him, as Snooki put it, to “go crazy with strippers” because “she was already crazy enough for marrying me.”

Snooki was moved by the confession. “Awwwww,” she cooed.

The two hit it off so well that Leno even suggested Gingrich make a guest appearance on “Snooki and JWoww,” Snooki’s “Jersey Shore” spinoff series.

“That would be awesome! You could drink, like, Ron Ron juice and stuff,” she exclaimed.

Gingrich admitted to drinking “sometimes,” which met with further approval from Snooki: “Good for you!”

For what it’s worth, this isn’t the first time Snooki has bonded publicly with a white-haired Republican presidential candidate: She and “really cute” Sen. John McCain have a long-standing Twitter friendship, forged over their shared dislike of the “tanning tax” that was part of President Obama’s healthcare reform law.

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Follow Meredith Blake on Twitter @MeredithBlake