You probably didn’t tune into Love is Blind: After the Altar expecting to see Francesca Farago. The reality star first rose to prominence on the first season of a different Netflix dating show, Too Hot to Handle, but that apparently brought her together with a member of the Love is Blind cast: Damian Powers, who broke up with Giannina Gibelli on their would-be wedding day but later got back together with her.
Rumors about Francesca and Damian first began swirling in August 2020, after the two were spotted looking cozy as they left a restaurant together in Los Angeles. Afterward, Damian released a statement to E! News clarifying that the two had been at dinner with the attorney they share, Alex Ion, along with a few other friends. “Francesca grabbed onto me in an attempt to shield herself from the paparazzi as our entire group entered the car,” Damian said. “Francesca and I are not dating or romantically involved but remain friends.” At the time, Damian was still dating Giannina, who reacted to her boyfriend’s new friendship on social media by posting a photo with the caption, “Stay in your lane.”
The footage in Love is Blind: After the Altar, however, makes the situation seem less clear-cut than Damian made it out to be. Not only does he share a flirtatious lunch with Francesca during which he implies his relationship with Giannina is on shaky ground, he actually invites her to the Love Is Blind reunion/anniversary party — a weird move, considering she doesn’t know anyone else there and doesn’t have anything to do with the show. Though Damian says he’s inviting Francesca as a friend, he also suggests that something could happen between them — despite the fact that he’s still in a relationship with Giannina. Unsurprisingly, this leads to an awkward and borderline hostile first meeting between the two women that prompts Francesca to leave the party early.
It’s unclear if Giannina and Damian are still together at this point, but Francesca seems to be single. Following her breakup earlier this year with The Only Way Is Essex star Demi Sims, fans were hoping that she would reunite with her Too Hot To Handle ex Harry Jowsey. The two posted photos together from Mexico in May, and in an early June interview with Us Weekly, Francesca revealed that they’d been “getting to know each other slowly” with plans to get back together. However, their connection hit a bump in the road after Harry was “extremely disrespectful” to her online.
“I’m the most single I’ve ever been,” Francesca said of her dating life at the time. “I’m super, super single. I hate everyone pretty much.”
