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Brianna “Chickenfry” LaPaglia is “reclaiming” her life in the aftermath of her split from singer-songwriter Zach Bryan.
LaPaglia, 25, made her Sports Illustrated Swimsuit debut as the January 2025 digital cover model. The interview and swimsuit photoshoot arrived on Wednesday (January 25). LaPaglia reflected on her relationship with Bryan, which began in summer 2023 and ended in October 2024. Bryan, 28, was first to announce the breakup with a statement on his Instagram story. He said at that time, in part, that it had been “an incredibly hard year,” and “thought it would be beneficial for both of us to go our different ways.” LaPaglia said she was “completely blindsided” by the statement, and opened up about the breakup for the first time in a tearful video. She’s since shared additional details and alleged emotional abuse in the relationship, including on her BFFs podcast. Though Bryan hasn’t publicly commented on those claims, he recently shared a lengthy, scathing statement calling out the “bullies on the internet” who are “attacking and belittling my friends” in the aftermath of the breakup.
LaPaglia said that, while she’s encountered her share of social media trolls, she’s also received messages from other women and young girls sharing their stories of unhealthy relationships. She told Sports Illustrated Swimsuit she hopes her story can help others.
“During the hardest time of my life, it’s probably been one of the most rewarding things that has ever happened to me, to be able to help people in a way that I feel is a lot more meaningful than what my old content was,” she told the outlet. “I know posting silly stuff and having fun videos for people to watch is also helpful, and it helps people get out of the reality, but to actually change lives with coming forward and being able to give people a shoulder to lean on, or a person to cry to, it’s just out of this world.”
LaPaglia also said in her Sports Illustrated Swimsuit interview that she’s feeling more like herself after feeling as though she had t “dim myself down” while she was dating Bryan. The podcast host and social media personality also marked a full circle moment as she posed for the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit digital cover. She said Bryan convinced her not to host the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit 60th anniversary red carpet event last year. LaPaglia, who recently wore an eye-popping dress on the Golden Globes red carpet, said in her newly-published interview: “It's a lot more than me looking quote-unquote ‘hot’ in a swimsuit—it’s me reclaiming who I am as a woman, reclaiming my body and my decisions and my choices. …It is just, on a petty level, my favorite ‘f*** you.’”