Giannina Gibelli Steps In as the New Host for AD Smith's Popular Reality Podcast

Share and Follow

In a heartwarming development, former Love Is Blind contestants are rallying to support one another. As AD Smith embarks on maternity leave, she’s called upon fellow reality TV stars Giannina Gibelli and Blake Horstmann to temporarily take over her podcast duties. The reality TV couple will be stepping into AD’s shoes, ensuring her show continues seamlessly in her absence.

Giannina and Blake’s journey to love mirrors that of AD and her partner, Ollie Sutherland. Both couples found fame on different dating shows before ultimately connecting on a separate series, culminating in the addition of a child to their families. This shared background makes Giannina and Blake ideal candidates to carry the torch for AD’s podcast during her break.

AD’s podcast, What’s the Reality?, is taking a brief pause due to her recent arrival of her first child with Ollie. Fans who’ve followed AD and Ollie’s love story will recall their unique path; despite originating from different seasons of Love Is Blind—with Ollie participating in the UK version—their relationship blossomed on Season 3 of the Netflix show Perfect Match.

AD Is Heading On Maternity Leave

AD is taking a step back from her podcast, What’s the Reality?, due to recently welcoming her first child with her partner, Ollie Sutherland. Fans who have been following the pair’s romance will know that, while both came from different seasons of Love Is Blind (with Ollie hailing from the UK offshoot), they met and sparked a romance on Season 3 of the Netflix dating show Perfect Match.

Giannina Gibelli and Blake Horstmann are smiling at a wedding in Denver, Colorado.

via: Instagram/@Gianninagibelli

In her place, two former Love Is Blind alums will fill in temporarily—another reality TV couple, Giannina Gibelli and Blake Horstmann, who appeared on Love Is Blind and The Bachelorette, respectively. Similar to Ollie and AD, the pair first connected on a different show called All Star Shore, which brings together cast members from a variety of shows and puts them in competition with one another.

Giannina and Blake offered some sweet words to AD and her fans about taking over her podcast in the meantime:

We are so happy and honored to be your guest hosts. We’re just keeping the couch nice and warm for AD, so don’t worry, she will be back when she’s ready.

Giannina went on to joke about how she had plans to put Blake “in the hot seat” while they were the interim hosts.

Blake And Giannina Reflected On Their Romance

In the trailer for their new podcast episodes, the couple reminisced about the unexpected start to their relationship. Blake noted that neither of them was actually looking for love at the time. “You weren’t gonna meet anybody, and I was the same way,” he teased.

Giannina said she agreed with him, adding that, at the time, she was about to throw in the towel with love entirely:

I didn’t want a boyfriend. I was done. I was like, ‘I’m gonna make out with everybody. I’m just gonna have the time of my life.’

“She did,” Blake responded, jokingly going on to ask his partner if she wanted to unpack the topic some more.

Fans who have been following their story might know that Giannina was originally slated to appear on Perfect Match, but she ended up dropping out of the show because she’d already begun to date Blake at that point. “That was actually a tipping point in our relationship,” Blake recalled. “I will never forget when you told me you were going on Perfect Match. I was shocked. I was in complete shock, because I [had] like, just asked you to be my girlfriend,” he added.

The couple is currently engaged and have already welcomed their first child together—a boy named Heath Orion, who was born in the spring of 2024. No doubt they’ll be able to relate to their trials and tribulations of new parenthood while AD is out on her leave.