If you close your eyes and think of the first season of Netflix's Love Is Blind, you probably see a woman in a white dress, mud on her heels, sprinting away from a wedding venue. That was Giannina Gibelli. It was 2020. The world was about to shut down, and we were all obsessed with the high-octane drama of a Venezuelan firecracker who told her fiancé his sex wasn't the best, only to be left at the altar.
But honestly? That version of Giannina is long gone.
Most people still associate the Giannina Love Is Blind journey with that messy, rain-soaked rejection. They think of her as the "dramatic one" who couldn't quite make it work with Damian Powers. But if you haven't checked in on her lately, you’ve missed a massive transformation. It’s 2026 now. She isn't just a reality TV survivor; she’s a mom, a fiancée to a totally different reality star, and a legitimate business mogul making moves that have nothing to do with pods.
Why the Damian Era Was Just a Prelude
The relationship between Giannina and Damian Powers was, for lack of a better word, chaotic. They were the couple that shouldn't have worked but kept trying anyway. After the cameras stopped rolling and that disastrous wedding day ended, they actually stayed together. For a while, at least.
They dated for about two years post-show. It was a weird, lingering attachment that finally fizzled out around 2021. Looking back, it felt like they were trying to prove the "experiment" worked even when the chemistry was clearly combustible. Giannina has since described that time as a "love bootcamp." It was heavy. It was public. And it was exactly what she needed to realize what she didn't want.
The Crossover Nobody Expected: Enter Blake Horstmann
If you follow the reality TV "cinematic universe," you know Blake Horstmann. He was the runner-up on Becca Kufrin's season of The Bachelorette and a major player in the Bachelor in Paradise drama.
They met while filming All Star Shore in 2021.
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People were skeptical. Crossover romances usually last about as long as a TikTok trend. But Giannina and Blake actually stuck. Unlike the high-pressure environment of the pods, they built something grounded. By late 2022, she had packed up her life and moved to his home in Colorado.
Life in Colorado and Baby Heath
Fast forward to 2024. The couple welcomed their first child, a son named Heath Orion Horstmann, on March 29.
Giannina has been super open about motherhood. She doesn't post the "perfect" curated version all the time. She talks about the exhaustion and the shift in her identity. It’s a far cry from the woman we saw fighting in a studio apartment in Atlanta. She’s traded the "soulpreneur" Instagram bio for actual substance.
The Engagement and the 2026 Wedding Plans
In October 2024, Blake finally popped the question in Madrid. He did it at sunset in Parque del Retiro. Very classic, very romantic, and zero cameras from a major streaming network (at least not in the way Love Is Blind does it).
So, what's the deal with the wedding?
They’ve been planning a summer 2026 wedding. They even recently appeared at a Love Is Blind Season 9 reunion event—yeah, the show is still going strong—to talk about how different this time feels. Giannina joked that she’s looking forward to a wedding where the groom actually says "I do" and she doesn't end up with mud on her dress.
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- The Vibe: They’re going for "coastal castle" energy.
- The Guest List: A mix of Bachelor alumni and LIB OGs.
- The Ring Bearer: Their son, Heath, who will be around two years old by the time they walk down the aisle.
Beyond the Screen: The Business of Being Giannina
One of the biggest misconceptions about the Giannina Love Is Blind legacy is that she’s just an "influencer."
While she definitely does the brand deals, she’s leaned hard into social media consulting and "soulpreneurship"—a term she coined early on that basically refers to building a business that aligns with your mental health and personal values. She and Blake even stepped in to host the What's the Reality? podcast recently.
She’s pulling in serious numbers. Reports have surfaced that between her various ventures and media appearances, she’s cleared the $150k-a-month mark at certain points. She went from working retail and mall kiosks to being one of the most successful exports from the Netflix reality machine.
What Really Happened with the "Runaway Bride" Moment?
People still ask: was it scripted?
Giannina has been adamant that those emotions were 100% real. The slip in the mud? Real. The confrontation with her mom in the street? Real. The "soulmate" talk? Also real. She’s admitted that she was a "bleach-blonde 25-year-old" who didn't know how to communicate.
The growth is the point.
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She’s used her platform to talk about anxiety and the trauma of being humiliated on global television. It turns out, running away from a wedding was the best thing she ever did for her career and her personal life. It gave her a "villain-to-hero" arc that most reality stars would kill for.
Actionable Takeaways from Giannina’s Journey
If you're following Giannina because you love reality TV or you're curious about how to survive a public breakup, here’s what her story actually teaches us:
- Don't let your worst moment define you. Most people would have gone into hiding after the Love Is Blind finale. She leaned into it, laughed at herself, and kept moving.
- Career pivots are necessary. She moved from advertising to reality TV to "soulpreneurship." Don't be afraid to change your "brand" as you grow up.
- Crossover your circles. Meeting Blake in a different environment (a competition show vs. a dating show) changed the stakes. Sometimes you need a change of scenery to find the right person.
If you want to keep up with her current life, her Instagram is still the best place for the "real" updates on Heath and the wedding planning. She’s active on Amazon Live too, where she does a lot of her "vibe" coaching and product reveals.
The lesson is simple: you can start as a meme and end up with a life that's actually worth living.
To stay updated on her upcoming summer wedding, you should follow her joint updates with Blake on their podcast, where they've promised to reveal the specific venue and date as the season approaches.