Kriti Mehrotra
Ever since Francesca Farago and Damian Powers were spotted leaving a restaurant together in August 2020, rumors regarding a possible romance between them have been swirling around. That’s because they’d even held hands while crossing a road, which soon became a massive deal as the latter was still actively involved with his ‘Love is Blind’ season 1 partner Giannina Gibelli. This plotline did play out in ‘After the Altar,’ but it also resurfaced in 2022 owing to this duo’s budding connection in Netflix’s ‘Perfect Match,’ a reality dating show for those within the Netflix universe.
Francesca and Damian’s History Affected Their Connections
While it’s unclear precisely when or where Francesca first came across Damian, they have admittedly been close friends for years owing to their similar passions as well as public professions. It thus comes as absolutely no surprise the duo has openly claimed the 2020 incident was far from a date and even mutual friends were present at the local Los Angeles, California restaurant. However, the fact they’d then had a very obviously flirtatious lunch during ‘Love is Blind: After the Altar,’ followed by some more closeness at an event right in front of Giannina, didn’t help their case.
After all, it led to quite a bit of drama, Francesca essentially storming out in rage over being publicly embarrassed, and long-term girlfriend Giannina shortly parting ways with Damian for good. The truth is none of them ever really cleared the air in the ensuing years, so when the former saw her once-friend on the board of possible dates in ‘Perfect Match,’ she picked him for herself. The ‘Too Hot to Handle’ star did utterly blindside her then-match Dom Gabriel (‘The Mole‘) to do this, yet she couldn’t deny she’d always been interested in Damian and was finally taking her chance.
The fact Damian first apologized to Francesca for his actions before moving to talk about his past relationship, her, as well as the bond they could share, was something she truly appreciated. Moreover, she admittedly felt physical sparks with him during their beach yoga session more than she ever felt with Dom in all the days they’d spent together, making her confident in her decision. Hence, of course, they officially coupled up that night, just for her mood to get down upon realizing Dom had managed to match with Georgia Hassarati (‘Too Hot to Handle‘ season 3) as well.
Francesca was actually hoping for Dom to be eliminated since it would allow her to explore Damian without worries, but she stopped holding back once the other couple grew closer. She was admittedly annoyed regarding this whole situation, yet she did try to focus on her own partner alone, that is, until he began to irk her with his affectionate mannerisms and physical touch. She couldn’t understand why he kept his eyes open during some of their kisses or made certain moves despite them being awkward, leading her to wonder if these were real irks or if she was being a self-saboteur.
Francesca and Damian Called it Quits During Filming Itself
Damian honestly appeared all in on Francesca from the get-go, but she did a 180° by diving right in with Abbey Humphreys (‘Twentysomethings: Austin‘) after being placed on a date with her. She seemingly could not handle the issues she’d gradually been taking notes of in her pairing, driving her to jump ship before anything else could transpire and possibly hurt either one of them. Therefore, Damian chose to recouple with Ines Tazi (‘The Circle France’) owing to her pure sincerity, yet it was evident he still wanted Francesca and planned on doing everything in his power to win her back.
Yet alas, not only were Francesca and Damian unable to make things work in the series despite ultimately reconnecting, but they also weren’t able to rekindle upon entering into the real world. The latter did try his best to make things official with the brunette beauty, but she simply could not get over her own blocks to completely give herself to him, driving them to call it quits for good.
However, from what we can tell through their respective social media platforms as well as public standing, Francesca and Damian are on rather amicable terms to this day — they still seem to be friends. It’s also imperative to note the former has since found true love in proudly trans-TikTok star Jesse Sullivan. Their romance began in mid-2022, mere months after ‘Perfect Match’ finished filming.
Jesse, who has a 15-year-old son from a high school relationship, actually proposed to Francesca on April 28, 2023 — he got down on one knee with a candle-lit orchestra surrounding them, and of course, she said yes! They haven’t tied the knot yet, but they have revealed they plan on going big, with the ‘Love is Blind’ star telling People, “We were debating for a while about if we wanted to go big or not. We decided we only do this once and to just go huge!” In fact, the couple has gone as far as to consider Italy since it’s a great spot for a destination wedding, but they’ve also spoken of spots in Catalina Island, California, to make it easier for their loved ones to attend.
Until then, Los Angeles-based Francesca and Jesse are enjoying embracing new experiences together while also getting ready to welcome two new tiny individuals into their loving world. That’s because, following a failed embryo transfer earlier this year, the former is currently pregnant with twins, which would make them a family of five by the time late 2024 rolls around. Coming to Damian’s current standing, well, it appears as if he is single yet successful at the moment — this Atlanta, Georgia, resident has seemingly gladly accepted a career as a social media influencer, even if he’s not consistently active.
Read More: Are Georgia and Dom From Perfect Match Still Together?
