"Had no idea what NASCAR even was": Gianna Tulio details her love story with Ryan Blaney on Haley Dillon's podcast 

Gianna Tulio opened up about her relationship with NASCAR Cup Series driver Ryan Blaney during her appearance on Haley Dillon’s Believe in the Good podcast. Tulio talked about the very beginning of her relationship with Blaney, going back to when they met through a Hooters event in Las Vegas during a NASCAR weekend.

When Gianna Tulio first crossed paths with Ryan Blaney, she had no clue what NASCAR was. It was sometime around the 2017 Vegas race when she attended her first-ever NASCAR event as part of her modeling work with Hooters, who at the time sponsored Chase Elliott. She and a few other Hooters models met up with Elliott and Blaney at the Losers Bar at the MGM Grand.

“I had no idea what NASCAR even was or any nothing about it. It was totally new to me." Gianna shared. [29:33]

At the time, Tulio was in a relationship and wasn’t interested in dating. She said she saw Blaney as nothing more than a good friend, and their connection felt easy and genuine. Ryan Blaney, however, didn’t give up. Over the next year and a half, he continued to reach out occasionally, inviting her to races or asking her out, but she always declined.

She was focused on her modeling career and wasn’t interested in long-distance dating, especially not with a professional athlete. As Tulio told Dillon,

"I didn’t want to make long-distance work with an athlete because that was kind of intimidating. You hear all these bad things about athletes and I'm like 'I don't want anything to do with that'."

She had heard negative things about dating athletes and wanted to avoid that. Their friendship continued until the 2019 Miami Homestead race, when Tulio was bartending at the track. Ryan Blaney invited her to hang out on his bus, and they ended up talking for three hours. After that, he again expressed interest in going on a date, but it wasn’t until the pandemic hit that things shifted.

When the COVID-19 lockdowns began, Tulio reached out. She felt that they were both in the right headspace to give a relationship a try. Blaney came to stay with her for a weekend—and they’ve been together ever since.

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Ryan Blaney’s wife Gianna Tulio clears the air on her absence from recent NASCAR races

In the same podcast, Gianna Tulio addressed recent speculation about her absence from NASCAR events. Fans and even some spotters had begun questioning why she hadn’t been seen trackside during Ryan Blaney’s recent races. Given her long-standing support for Blaney and their public relationship, her absence got the rumor mill churning.

Some assumed the couple might be facing issues. Others guessed she might be pregnant. Tulio confirmed the latter, making it clear there’s no drama. She told Haley Dillon that she’s simply been dealing with pregnancy-related sickness and that all is well in their relationship.

“There's a lot of speculation going around,” Tulio said. “Everyone either thinks I'm pregnant, or they're like, ‘Gianna and Ryan are having issues. She's not at the track.’ And I'm like, ‘I'm just pregnant.’ I'm just pregnant and sick, don't worry.”

According to Tulio, even people inside the NASCAR inner circle have been gossiping. She shared that a spotter, who’s a friend, told her that many on the spotters' stand talk about her absence during each race weekend, suspecting a pregnancy.

“I just had to sit there and act like I don't know what's going on,” she said, laughing. “Everyone's so nosy.”

Tulio also shared that she and Blaney are expecting a baby boy, due on December 6—just a week before their first wedding anniversary. The couple got married in Aspen in December 2024, following their engagement shortly after Blaney’s first Cup Series title win in 2023.