Two Netflix stars and plenty of drama. As Francesca Farago and Damian Powers’ relationship plays out on Perfect Match, some fans know that they had a history prior to filming the crossover dating show — but when did the Too Hot to Handle star know the Love Is Blind alum was a potential part of the cast?
“I found out Damian was on the board, I think, [after] the first challenge. I forget who went in first, but I found out he was on the board pretty early on,” Francesca exclusively told Us Weekly.
At the time, she was spending time with The Mole’s Dom Gabriel.
“I think that definitely hindered my ability to, like, go further with Dom,” Francesca admitted to Us. “But I definitely had a genuine connection with him. I still, like, I love him as a person. I think he’s amazing. We have a great friendship now, but I just don’t think there was, like, that romantic connection. But, obviously, we needed time together to be able to figure that out.”
When Francesca and Dom won their first challenge, she opted to go on a date with Damian, which allowed him to join the cast.
“I feel like all of us were pretty genuine on the board with trying to match up people that would actually make genuine connections,” she told Us. “I mean, that was my thought process anyway.”
Prior to Perfect Match, the twosome were seen out together during summer 2020. At the time, Damian was still in the middle of his messy relationship with his Love Is Blind fiancée, Giannina Gibelli. Fans got a glimpse of the odd dynamic on Love Is Blind: After the Altar, which aired in July 2021.
“I was very uncomfortable,” Giannina told E! News about Damian opting to bring Francesca to a cast party. “Literally, I have a lot of heat inside me because I felt my blood literally boiling but then I also just felt bad for her. We all know each other. I hate feeling outcasted at parties. I felt bad for her at this point.”
While they “weren’t in a good place,” Giannina wasn’t expecting to see Damian with another woman. “Maybe that’s why he felt like he had to bring somebody along,” she said. “[We] were dating for two and a half years, so he knew it was coming after that. He knew that I wasn’t going to let him get away with it that easily.”
Damian and Giannina called it quits for good post-After the Altar and she’s been linked to Bachelor Nation’s Blake Horstmann since December 2021.
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