In the world of Netflix’s Too Hot to Handle, contestants spend a few summer weeks in a retreat, usually thinking they signed up for another show. However, with season 6’s debut, contestants were completely aware of the show they were signing up for. In college student and individual Season 6 winner Gianna Pettus’ case, it was a fulfilling experience and her personality now is a testament to her growth. Although she didn’t leave the show with a significant other, Gianna left with much more, including a mindset shift and a portion of the prize fund. Gianna shares her transformative experience on the show, her challenges, and how her newfound fame intersects with her personal goals and college journey.
Jumping right into Too Hot to Handle, Gianna revealed that her friends nominated her for the show. “In the beginning of the year, they had always joked about me going on something like Love Island or Too Hot to Handle, because I was just that extremely adventurous, fun, single friend that was kind of down to do anything. They ultimately wanted to see me maybe settle down a little bit.” She speaks about being grateful for the opportunity, calling it a “really fulfilling experience.” Gianna, a self-described ‘type-A person’ knew the premise of the show before going on it. “I had watched probably a few of the seasons, but after I started the casting process, I was like, I should probably brush up on everything about the show just so I know what I’m going into because I like to just have everything in my mind making sense. So I watched all of the seasons, 1 through 5, with my friends at the time. We just binge-watched them all. So I kind of knew what to expect, but in a much bigger sense, the thing with going on that show and everything within that season was that no one knew what they were expecting.”
However, for Gianna, college was her first commitment, and balancing it with a globally popular reality TV show was no easy feat. Gianna meticulously planned to ensure she wouldn’t fall behind. “I sat down in every one of my professors’ office hours, and I talked to them about doing all my work in advance,” she shared. Her dedication to her education is evident as she admits, “If it means that none of my professors approved, or only one or two out of the five did, I wouldn’t have done it, because ultimately school was, and still is, comes first, and especially with how much money I put into it, and how much work I put into it, I didn’t want to just drop my degree, or be behind in a sense. So, saying yes to it meant that my professors said yes, so we can thank my professors for me appearing on that show because if it wasn’t for them I wouldn’t have been there.”
On the show, Gianna is seen to have had an initial connection with the self-described ‘menace’ and returning cast member, Louis Russell, who made a surprise entrance alongside fellow previous cast member, Flavio Laos. “So when we woke up that morning, we had been let know that we were going to have some previous guests arrive, and so obviously everyone is racking their brains, like who could possibly be coming on here? I remember just thinking Creed, all the girls had an inclination that it was Louis, and I was like maybe it won’t be, I’m going to go a different route, maybe it will be Creed. when we were sitting at brunch, and the male new previous guest arrival came in, and it was Louis, I think we were all excited. Everyone could see that, that wasn’t mistranslated or miscommunicated from what happened to the screen, that was how excited people were.” After Katherine LaPrell and Russell’s brief stint, Gianna shared a few moments with him. “In that situation, I had very little moments of things getting down to it, hot and heavy. It’s like whenever you’re on a super clean diet, and someone offers you a cupcake right in front of you. That’s what it felt like because I’d been doing so well, and there was this cupcake in front of me. Honestly, it was a very tense scene. It was a very fun time, but I honestly kind of blacked out a little during it.”
Throughout the show, viewers witnessed Gianna navigating romantic interests and emotional challenges, because Russell and her best friend, Kylisha ended up leaving at the same time. “I remember being so upset for a little bit, but I just couldn’t even bring myself to eat because I was just very affected by it. Kylisha was one of my best friends. Louis was kind of at the time, the only connection I had ever been interested in, so it felt like, I had had my world kind of ripped out from under me because that’s kind of what that retreat feels like at the time. It feels like your world, those people there are the people you talk to 24/7. After that, I just remember talking with Bri and Lucy, and Lucy was a huge play in my attitude, because I truly feel like without her, her optimism, and just being an overall good person, I would have definitely fallen into a negative headspace and probably would have ultimately either left or been kicked out because I wasn’t trying. She pushed me to just push through, and I think it wasn’t until the ice bath workshop, that I really felt like I knew how I felt, and was able to articulate it. Chris was also such a great help. From then on, it was like as soon as that wheel started turning a little bit, all of a sudden it was like spinning, and everything just kind of started to make sense to me.”
Gianna also touched on the precious, soulmate-like friendships she made with her fellow cast members, Lucy, Bri, and Sabrina. “I think it’s essentially just because, we all went through that same experience together, we were all there for each other. When the show came out, we were each other’s rocks. You can’t go and spill everything about how you’re feeling to a random person on the street but you can certainly talk to the people who were there with you.” She undoubtedly believes they will always be there in her life.
When asked about her most significant growth during the show, Gianna reflected on her journey of self-acceptance. “I hadn’t been alone in a very long time and especially been okay with being alone. I kind of just realized, well maybe this is the route I should go anyway. I promised myself I wasn’t going to pretend I liked someone, to make myself feel better,” she said. For Gianna, the experience wasn’t just about finding love — it was about finding herself. “I think ultimately, it’s that saying, where it’s like the less taken path, is sometimes harder. In that sense, I was watching all my friends, have these blossoming relationships and I hadn’t found much interest in the beginning and there was no one I was connecting with. I hadn’t been alone in a very long time and especially been okay with being alone. I think being okay, with what I was at, where I was at, and who knew it, which was everyone, was a big part of that journey.”
When talking about life after the release, Gianna talks about her college and career plans. “I’ve had a little bit more of a change in my plan than I thought I would. So I was supposed to go back to Arkansas for college. I do better being surrounded by family, and I’ve grown out of the partying scene a little bit. Especially having a boyfriend here in St. Louis, and my family living here as well, it seemed like a better path to stay here.” She also touches upon her relationship with baseball player, Masyn Winn. “After filming, I had been in such a good space so I thought, being in a relationship wouldn’t be that bad. I was also in college, and the dating scene in college is awful. Then I went home for the summer and I followed this guy on Instagram because he had posted with one of my favorite artists, Metro Boomin.” After Masyn DM’d Gianna on Instagram, they started hanging out and a relationship just blossomed from that point. “It just started and we never looked back. It’s actually been really nice, I don’t have any stress with this relationship,” Gianna adds with a smile.
With a career-focused mindset, Gianna is determined to take her education further into her career. “I think you guys can expect to see a little bit more of my lifestyle on my socials. So whether you’re going to see me studying for the LSAT or decorating a home, and doing lots of projects in that home very soon. I’m going to start studying for the LSAT and I’ll document all of that because I want to stay relatable and be something that people can look up to, especially girls. I think you don’t have to be defined as one thing, you can be anything, you can be like Barbie, you can have 50 careers, like, you can do whatever you want.”
Gianna’s advice for future contestants of Too Hot to Handle? “Don’t come in with any expectations. There’s no such thing as a complete success or failure. Look at your process from a more expansive viewpoint. I look at my journey, and I’m like, we had losses, and we had wins, but at the end of the day, did it make you come out a better person? Yes, you don’t come out a better person if you always win. ” This mindset has clearly shaped her experience, making her the show’s individual winner with a family-oriented side and a good head on her shoulder.