Australian reality television personality Harry Jowsey has disclosed a long-running social media snub, revealing that supermodel Gigi Hadid has had him blocked on Instagram for the better part of a decade.
A Drunken Teenage Mistake
The 28-year-old, who found fame on Netflix's Too Hot to Handle, shared the embarrassing tale during an appearance on the So Alli podcast this week. Speaking to host Alli Simpson, Jowsey explained the incident dates back to when he was just 16 years old. At the time, he was engaged in an online relationship with someone he believed was Alli on the now-defunct platform ASKfm, which was in fact a catfish account impersonating her.
When the real Alli Simpson discovered the impersonation and alerted her followers on Twitter, a devastated and inebriated Jowsey lashed out online. "That was the first time I ever popped off on social media, on ASKfm," a remorseful Jowsey admitted during the podcast recording.
The Family Reaction and Lasting Block
Jowsey's reaction escalated when he took to Instagram, posting a false claim that he and Alli were dating and had taken each other's virginities. This provoked an immediate response from Alli's family. "Your whole family went off at me in the comments. You commented on my post. Cody blocked me. Cody was dating Gigi at the time, and I've been blocked ever since," Jowsey recounted.
This sequence of events led to a dual block from Alli's brother, pop star Cody Simpson, and his then-girlfriend, Gigi Hadid. The pair dated between 2013 and 2015. Despite the passage of time and even having met Hadid in person since, Jowsey confirmed the block remains firmly in place. "I met her and I'm still blocked this long, and no one knows," he said.
Water Under the Bridge?
Alli Simpson was forgiving during the podcast, suggesting she had overreacted to the teenage antics and that the incident was now "water under the bridge." She even offered Jowsey a potential explanation for the enduring block, musing that Gigi Hadid may have simply forgotten he is still on her blocked list after all these years.
The revelation offers a glimpse into the lasting, and sometimes awkward, digital footprints created by youthful mistakes in the celebrity world. While Jowsey and Simpson have reconciled, his status in Hadid's Instagram universe appears permanently set to 'restricted'.
