What happened between Damian and Giannina? Everything we know about the former 'Love is Blind' couple

Damian and Giannina will arguably go down as one of the most memorable reality dating show couples ever—because who can forget their tumultuous relationship from Love Is Blind season 1?

While the couple seemed to be off to a great start in the pods, declaring their love for each other before getting engaged, the duo were on rocky footing from day one after leaving said pods.

And fans were left even more confused about their status after a whirlwind reunion on Love Is Blind: After the Altar, which aired in 2021 (yes, we can't believe it was 2 years ago either). So what happened between Giannina and Damian from Love is Blind season 1? As many of us know now, the fiery couple didn't last—and the end of their relationship wasn't all that pretty. Well, not everyone from the cast of Love Is Blind can have marital bliss like the OG's Lauren and Cameron...

Are Damian and Giannina still together?

After plenty of ups and downs while participating on the dating show, during quarantine in 2020 and while filming Love Is Blind: After the Altar—which included some very jaw-dropping cameos, thanks to Damian's inappropriate invite—Damian Powers and Giannina Gibelli are officially not together in 2023.

While we were focused on the Love is Blind season 2 couples, the season 1 reunion special (which aired 2 years after the series was finished) shocked us all, but it didn't quite make things entirely clear on where the former couple stood.

It seemed as though the pair were officially separated, as Damian awkwardly brought along a date, reality TV star Francesca Farago. Not one to hold in her emotions, Giannina was clearly angry and upset. And we can understand why, as it turns out, the couple were actually still *kind of* together at that point. She told Francesca: "I'm letting you know right now, if you ever did try anything, you're messing with the wrong b****. He's mine." Eek!

To add insult to injury, when asked about their relationship on the reunion special, Damian made it seem as though Giannina was the one who had reservations. (Given his behavior, this is understandable.)

"It was definitely a strong love from the beginning," Damian said at the reunion. "We pushed through a lot of challenges, as did everyone here. But I wanted it every day ever since I told her I loved her in The Pods. It turned into our love story, but she was in and out of it so much.”

Following the reunion episode though, which aired in August 2021, Giannina spilled the tea to ET about the true state of her love life. 

"Me and Damian haven't been dating for a couple of months now. I've moved on. I feel really, really good. I'm definitely at a really good place in my life."

Fast forward a year and a half, and it appears that at least one of them is doing a good job moving on, since we now know all about Gianinna's new(ish) boyfriend, former Bachelor star Blake Horstmann.

In December 2022, the pair took a trip to Colorado to celebrate a year together, and their relationship still seems to be going swimmingly, with Giannina posting pictures of them traveling together often, to LA, Morocco, New York and Mexico.

In fact, her beau Blake was by her side when she celebrated her 30th birthday in April, and shared a very sweet post on her big day—listing all the reasons he loves her.

It doesn't look like Damian has a new girlfriend according to what we can see on his socials, but you never know...

Damian and Giannina's relationship timeline

But back to Damian and Giannina. Given the circumstances, it seemed that a split between the explosive couple was inevitable. Here's everything that went down with the show's most talked-about couple.  

Damian Powers and Giannina Gibelli struggled throughout their Love Is Blind journey. The pair had some super awkward discussions about their sex life (we all remember *that* dramatic scene with Giannina in the kitchen and Damian in the bedroom), but they powered through, and planned to get married on the show.

However, Damian ultimately ended up not saying "I don't" on the day, instead of "I do". The admission left his fiancée heartbroken, with Gi running away from the wedding in tears before the pair reconciled a little while later.

They managed to leave the show as a committed couple and intended to work on their relationship. They spent time together during quarantine in 2020, and focused on making their partnership stronger than before. Ultimately though, a fair few things—namely a fellow reality TV peer—got in the way. 

Francesca Farago and Damian Powers drama

Our favorite reality TV dating shows became entangled in August 2020, when Damian was spotted with Francesca Farago from Too Hot To Handle, holding hands after a romantic dinner at EP & LP restaurant in West Hollywood. Naturally, everyone had questions, considering he claimed to still be with Giannina. 

Although the two walked arm-in-arm and Francesca donned a very sensual outfit—ripped jeans with only a bra—Damian insisted that the get-together was nothing more than platonic. This may well explain Giannina's anger during the LIB reunion party!

"Over the past week, I have been in L.A. with my attorney, Alex Ion, pursuing new projects and business ventures. Francesca and I both share the same attorney," he said, according to People. 

Damian continued: "Alex arranged for both Francesca and I to meet with him for dinner at the Eveleigh in West Hollywood along with some of our other friends, including Mitchell Crawford and Raiane Macedo. We all planned to leave the Eveleigh together in the same car. Francesca, Alex, Mitchell, and Raiane all exited through a side entrance, while I exited through the main entrance of the Eveleigh."

For her part, Farago had her own roller-coaster relationship with castmate Harry Jowsey and has since been linked to other celebs—though she is now engaged to her TikTok star partner Jesse Sullivan. 

Obviously, the two making an appearance on After The Altar left people—namely Giannina—questioning what was going on between them.

And despite Damian insisting at the time that there was nothing untoward about their relationship, awkwardly, Francesca and Damian did actually date one another on the Netflix dating show, Perfect Match. 

The former friends were both contestants on the Netflix show, and got a chance to explore their romantic connection.

However, their romance was short-lived, when Francesca was sent on a date with Twentysomethings: Austin alumna Abbey Humphreys in episode eight. The pair really hit it off, so she recoupled with Abbey instead of Damian. As mentioned however, the pair are no longer together, as she is engaged to Jesse.

Giannina has since shared on the Out Of The Pods podcast (hosted by Deepti Vampati and Natalie Lee), that she knew hers and Damian's relationship was over as soon as she saw them together at the After The Altar party.

On her podcast episode in late May 2023, she confessed, "That night I officially broke up with him. That night I felt nothing, and I was free."

"At that point it was so personal that I wasn’t going to give him another ounce, another tear, another shout—I was just done. It was like, humiliate me once, shame on you, humiliate me twice, shame on me. Humiliate me three f------ times at this point, I'm done," she continued.

And, sharing her feelings about Damian and Francesca's Perfect Match encounter, she said, "After the Altar happened and the entire time Damian was reassuring me, 'There's nothing going on between us. There’s nothing going on between us.' Then a year later, I see the whole thing and I just felt like a f------ idiot."

Phew—what a rollercoaster!