Brianna “Chickenfry” LaPaglia has seen the viral speculation that her ex-boyfriend Zach Bryan is dating a woman who resembles the Barstool Sports personality.
“Next question is [one] that I got a million times. ‘What do you think about Zach’s girlfriend looking exactly like you?’” LaPaglia, 26, said on the Sunday, October 12, episode of her “Plan Bri Uncut” podcast. “I think that is narcissism textbook 101, like, that’s what narcissists do. They just go and find another version of you to date.”
LaPaglia dated Bryan, 29, from summer 2023 to fall 2024 and later accused him of being emotionally abusive. (He never addressed the claims. Us Weekly reached out at the time). The country singer moved on with Samantha Leonard this summer, with fans often flooding social media with comments about the uncanny resemblance between the two women. (Neither Bryan nor Leonard have addressed the comparisons at all.)
“People are like, ‘Are you creeped out? Are you mad? Are you flattered?’ I am flattered to be honest,” LaPaglia said. “I dyed my hair so that people [would] stop sending me every single picture that he posts of her, and I blocked him. I don’t wanna see this [and] I don’t want to indulge in anything that he does.”
She continued, “The only time he comes across my desk is when he, like, jumps over fences or talks about ICE … when he’s in the news. I have him blocked on everything, so I only see articles when they come up on my [TikTok] For You Page, but his [new girlfriend] looking exactly like me is crazy nonetheless.”
Whenever Bryan and Leonard post a new photo together, many fans often send LaPaglia messages and ask why she reconciled with the “Something in the Orange” musician.
“I’m like, ‘Guys, no, that’s not me. I literally dyed my hair for this reason,’” LaPaglia explained of her responses to the plethora of DMs. “I was, like, ‘I cannot continuously keep being compared to someone. It’s exhausting.’ It’s crazy and it’s weird that he’s dating a new version of me, but who cares at this point?”
LaPaglia further stressed that she “doesn’t care” what Bryan does with his life.
“I’m just so glad he’s not near me — just near my clone,” she quipped. “Sorry, I have to say it. Your new girl is my clone.”
Bryan announced the pair’s split in October 2024, citing that they went their separate ways amicably.
“Brianna and me [sic] have broken up with each other and I respect and love her with every ounce of my heart. She has loved me unconditionally for a very long time and for that, I’ll always thank her,” Bryan wrote in an Instagram Story statement at the time. “I’ve had an incredibly hard year personally and struggled through some pretty severe things. I thought it would be beneficial for both of us to go our different ways. I am not perfect and never will be.”
LaPaglia, meanwhile, claimed that she was blindsided by Bryan’s decision to announce their breakup. The breakup has even been her motivation for going on Fox’s Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test season 4.
“I think going through what I went through last year gave me the adversity and the mental strength to probably do anything,” LaPaglia exclusively told Us Weekly last month. “Without that, I don’t think I could have gotten through Special Forces. I don’t think I would have been mentally strong enough. If anything, like, silver lining, it prepared me to get through this course.”