WWE’s Austin Gunn Reveals Why He Returned for the ‘Ranch Rules’ Grand Opening (Exclusive)
Following his dramatic exit, WWE star Austin Gunn returned to the ranch for the grand opening on Relatively Famous: Ranch Rules and he revealed why he decided to end the series with the rest of the cast.
Gunn and Hana Giraldo bitterly fought after Gunn kissed another woman at a bar. Gunn and Giraldo had hooked up the night before, but Giraldo didn’t seem interested in pursuing a relationship with Gunn. Confused and frustrated, Gunn ended up kissing another woman and gave her his phone number during the cast’s night out and it infuriated Giraldo. She slapped him when he returned to the ranch and then attacked him when he got into his car.
Austin Gunn reveals why he had to leave the ranch
Gunn never returned to the ranch that night and was missing from the Ranch Rules grand opening. He revealed what was going through his mind that night when he and Giraldo fought.
“I think that [possibly not returning] was always in my mind,” he admitted during an interview with Showbiz Cheat Sheet. “And in the back of my head, I just got hit over and over again, like three times. I tried to separate myself from the situation. But once she came at me in the Jeep, all emotions were just released that night and for good reason.”
“I mean, I embarrassed Hana at the bar, and very weird emotions were flying around that night,” Gunn continued. “And when I got back and she slapped me and then everything kind of came into perspective and I was just like, ‘Alright, you know what? Maybe I did deserve that.’ And then I walked out on the balcony, just trying to separate myself. But once she started coming at me then at a certain point I was like, ‘Do I really need this? Do really need to go to the grand finale?’ Like good luck.”
Why did he return the next day?
Gunn spent the night at a local hotel and did some soul searching. “No matter what you’re going through, whether you’re fighting with family, fighting with friends, you always have to come back together at the end of the day,” he said. “And either apologize and move on or just kind of get the job done regardless. I think in this situation, I couldn’t let the ranchers down. I’ve been through too much stuff. I stuck my hand up a cow’s butt! And I put in too much hard work to not see it through.”
“I know I was assigned cattle boss,” he added. “So I mean, that’s been a big deal to the ranchers’ family, and I didn’t want to disrespect them by not going for something that could be resolved in person or with an apology to Hana or the rest of the roommates. I wanted to see it through and I was never going to let the ranchers down.”
“So whether they were mad at me at the end of the day, I didn’t really care about that,” Gunn said. “I was more concerned with the ranchers’ view of me. And I just wanted them to be proud of me at the end of the day. Just coming back and finishing what I came here for. And just kind of riding off into the sunset knowing that I did my best.”
Apologizing and facing the ‘Ranch Rules’ cast was nerve racking
The cast seemed shocked and relieved when Gunn finally appeared on the ranch. Was he nervous to face his friends after he left? “Honestly, I knew the other roommates would forgive me,” he said. “And I knew that Harry [Thornton] saw how Hana was acting that night. I think it was a little bit of both of our faults and then this physical altercation happened. And I embarrassed everybody at the bar.”
“But yeah, there’s always nerves in your stomach when you’re trying to see somebody after something that crazy happened,” he added. “We escalated to the ceiling with emotion. So I was very skeptical about seeing her in person because I know how intense she can get. She can hit. And I didn’t know if she would forgive me. Will this be awkward now? So it was a lot of feelings going up to her and apologizing or being face to face again because you don’t ever know how that situation is going to come out.”
Giraldo and the roommates quickly forgave Gunn for leaving and embraced his return. As for Gunn pursuing a relationship with Giraldo outside the show, he said that’s DOA. “I think what happened that night just spoke for itself,” he chuckled.
