Zach Bryan’s Secret Marriage to Samantha Leonard, Haunting Past, and Brianna LaPaglia Drama (Exclusive)
Zach Bryan and Samantha Leonard
According to my source, Zach Bryan is married and has been as early as this past August 2025.
When I asked “to who?”
She said, “The chicken look alike I guess?” My source mentions that she has some Spanish roots.
Brianna on the left, Samantha on the right.
Zach Bryan and Samantha Leonard were rumored to be dating this past summer, but he confirmed the relationship in October.
As of right now, there’s reportedly set to be a ceremony in Spain “or something like that.”
According to my source, the wedding is reportedly set for the New Year and one of the location names floating around the fall time was San Andrés, Spain.
It seems like Zach is ready to start a new life and doesn’t care who he needs to drop to get it.
If you recall, after his breakup with Brianna, he went as far as blocking her and several people close to her on social media, including Dave Portnoy and Josh Richards from the BFFs podcast.
This even prompted Dave Portnoy and Josh Richards to release a diss track aimed at Zach.
Via RollingStone
The question is… is he going to unfollow and block anyone remaining in his life for this new life? Old habits die hard after all.
So, who is Samantha that Zach is ready to do all this for?
Samantha is a student and lifestyle creator who has shared parts of her life on social media.
Samantha via Zach’s Instagram
According to SoapCentral and other entertainment outlets, she’s 28 years old and has pursued education in fine arts and business and is working on a master’s degree in interior architecture at UCLA, with a prior degree from New York University (NYU).
She’s now a social media influencer.
Now, here’s where the timeline and public reaction start to matter.
Fans first began suspecting Zach Bryan and Samantha Leonard were dating in the summer of 2025 after they were spotted traveling together, including time spent in Spain during the Running of the Bulls.
Social media interactions, overlapping locations, and Zach engaging with Samantha’s posts raised eyebrows months before anything was officially confirmed. By October 2025, Zach made the relationship Instagram official with a birthday post.
When I searched for anything about Samantha being Spanish, nothing came up, but she seems to have roots there.
What I did find is that Zach commented “Spanish eyes” on her post from August.
Even though he confirmed the relationship in October, she has been posting him beforehand.
The Boot writes, “It seems the couple have been together for a while now. Bryan had plenty of photos and videos to choose from as he assembled a social media carousel to celebrate his love.”
They must have been together for a while if my first time hearing about them was them being married through my source.
Another reason fans have latched onto this relationship is the persistent comparison between Samantha and Brianna.
Almost immediately after Zach Bryan went Instagram official with Samantha, social media began pointing out how closely she resembles his ex.
From similar facial features to the same long brunette hair, body type, and overall aesthetic, fans started calling Samantha a “Brianna lookalike” or “replacement version” of Brianna.
Brianna herself has responded to the lookalike conversation, saying: “I think this is narcissism textbook 101 — that’s what narcissists do, they just go and find another version of you to date.”
“People are like, ‘Are you creeped out? Are you mad? Are you annoyed? Are you flattered?' I am flattered, to be honest, but I dyed my hair so that people stop sending me every single picture that he posts of her.”
Zach moved on publicly less than a year after a very explosive breakup, one that included allegations of emotional abuse and control.
For many fans, the resemblance added to the discomfort, especially given Brianna’s claims that he struggled with control, image, and projection within the relationship.
Some fans have gone further, theorizing that Zach has a “type” rooted less in attraction and more in familiarity and power dynamics.
Brianna has publicly accused Zach of emotional abuse and controlling behavior following their October 2024 breakup.
He had posted the following to Instagram:
To which she said that she was blindsided by the statement and the fact that everyone found out through him saying that and not the fact that he told her he was making this public:
Brianna Chickenfry found out about her breakup from Zach Bryan... via his Instagram statement. 😳 pic.twitter.com/OTQfVhGnsI
— Page Six (@PageSix) October 22, 2024
On the BFFs podcast, she detailed a cycle of being built up, then torn down, and said she felt like she constantly had to manage his moods to avoid conflict.
One of the more specific examples she gave involved Instagram, where she said he unfollowed her after she posted photos from the Golden Globes because he did not like how she looked or how the posts came across.
"Anything Brianna did for Brianna, he had to ruin it." 💔 Brianna Chickenfry just revealed why Zach Bryan unfollowed her while she was at the Golden Globes. pic.twitter.com/qTeA4CotK3
— Page Six (@PageSix) November 8, 2024
She also said he unfollowed others during that time, describing it as a broader pattern rather than a one off moment.
Brianna also alleged that after the breakup, Zach’s team offered her a multimillion dollar NDA to stay silent about the relationship, which she says she refused.
Brianna LaPaglia alleges emotional abuse by ex-boyfriend Zach Bryan after rejecting 12-million dollar NDA offer.pic.twitter.com/5yEnkk2697
— Pop Crave (@PopCrave) November 8, 2024
Their back and forth did not end quietly. Zach posted a video of himself burning a Barstool Sports flag, a direct reference to Brianna’s job, which many took as confirmation of his behavior that Brianna vented about.
Brianna later responded publicly, calling the behavior disturbing and not normal.
My source alleges that Zach is “a straight up abuser.”
It seems like the things he did to Brianna were intentional, a way of trying to control or ruin her day.
Whether it was interfering with her tour, criticizing her Golden Globes appearance, or even posting a public statement about their breakup without giving her a heads-up, it all reads like deliberate manipulation.
Then there’s the fact that he confirmed his relationship with Samantha a full year after their split, even though it was clear he had been involved with her long before making it public.
And his first photo of choice? A photo where you can see Samantha’s face only as if he was making sure everyone would notice how similar she looks to Brianna, while he casually nuzzles into her neck.
“This guy’s an absolute psychopath,” Dave Portnoy once said. “He went and built a Brianna 2.0 in the lab. I mean, that’s insane.”
Brianna on the left, Samantha on the right
On top of that, Zach has a history of legal trouble and has faced backlash from Swifties over a comment he made about Taylor, showing a pattern of behavior that often sparks public controversy.
What he said about Taylor and apologizing soooo fast:
In September 2023, he was arrested for obstruction of investigation after he said he had gotten "too lippy" with a police officer. He explained that he had been driving through Oklahoma to Boston to go see a concert with his security guard in another car.
After his security guard was pulled over by an officer behind him, he said he turned around and pulled over near them, eventually getting out of his car for a smoke after waiting for several minutes.
When the officer told him to get back in his car, he said, "I’m not the one who's getting pulled over." Zach was told again to get back in his car and warned that if he did not, he would be taken to jail.
"Like a dumba--, I'm like ‘You’re going to take me to f---ing jail? What do you mean?" he continued.
So the relationship and breakup, his immediate response to law enforcement, abuse allegations, NDA offer, and ongoing social media back and forth… he doesn’t seem like someone dragged into drama, but rather one igniting it.
Nearly a year after their breakup in August 2025, fans started calling Zach “creepy” and “obsessed” after he seemingly took a shot at Brianna, just minutes after she posted a TikTok.
In her video, Brianna talked about having a rough week, dealing with “a bunch of PTSD,” and scrambling to get her nails done before filming for her upcoming reality show, Barstool Beach House.
Minutes later, Zach posted an Instagram Story asking, “Anyone know the best acrylic nail tech near downtown or west village NYC,” while lying in bed in a selfie.
Fans quickly pointed out how weird and targeted the timing seemed, flooding Brianna’s video with comments like “ZB asking for a nail tech in NYC within minutes of you posting this is SCARY” and “He’s so creepy.” Some even suggested she consider legal action, while others called his behavior “obsessed.”
Brianna responded by reminding fans she has Zach blocked and asked them to leave him alone on his own social media, writing, “Guys, I love you sm but I have him blocked for a reason, it really does set me back seeing him. Let’s leave his face and crash outs on his own social media.”
Now add the fact that he was reportedly dating Samantha this time and it’s extra weird that he was still keeping up with his ex publicly.
Here are a few messages between my source and me:
What do you guys think?
And where do you stand in the Zach vs. Brianna feud?
I remember when it all went down last year, but I genuinely didn’t care about anything until my source hit me up. So I’m veryyyy intrigued to hear your thoughts and additional insight from people who were catching up with the drama in real time.
Let me know in the comments down below!
And with that being said… Happy New Year, besties ❤️ Here’s to an incredible 2026 together!
