Inside Once-Popular HGTV Star John Gidding's Secretive Love Life

"Curb Appeal" star John Gidding was a prominent face on HGTV during the 2010s, but he kept his love life tucked away and out of the spotlight on him. Well mostly. For example, he slipped in the fact that he had married a ballet dancer who enjoyed joking about his lack of coordination at the tail-end of an interview. "He rubs it in my face," Gidding told Mpsl St. Paul about his husband in February 2014. "And I appreciate dance so much," he continued. "People with rhythm and moves are my heroes."

Two months later, Gidding opened up a little bit more about his new marriage. So the architect/designer definitely wasn't one of the celebs who hid a secret lover for years — just selective about the info he shared with the world. "I got married a year ago to a ballet dancer named Damian Smith, and it's been a whirlwind year and a half," he revealed during an interview with Windy City Times. But he didn't just share his husband's name and establish a timeline; he also dove a bit into their backstory. "We met online," he revealed. "You go out on a date and you're like, 'We should do that again,' and you keep in touch." But then things escalated ... fast. "He proposed to me three months after we met — and I was looking for a ring at the same time," he continued, adding, "When it's right, it's right." 

As for where Gidding and Smith are today, well ...

Unfortunately, John Gidding and Damian Smith had a relatively small window of happiness together before things went south.

In January 2019, Gidding told Metro Weekly that they decided to divorce in 2016 and had only finalized things three months prior to the interview. Unsurprisingly, Gidding was still in the thick of his disappointment at the time. "The marriage thing was an interesting experience for me," he said, adding, "I would say I'm still reeling from the divorce." And while the HGTV star confirmed that their divorce wasn't "bad," he'd gotten "swept up in the enthusiasm for marriage once it became legalized and hadn't really thought it through."

Gidding also revealed that he had gotten back into the dating game. However, the divorce seems to have inspired the HGTV alum to keep his personal life extra private going forward, because this interview appears to have been the last time he opened up about his love life, as of this writing. He also hasn't posted any photos of any possible matches to his Instagram account, which he's dedicated mostly to his traveling adventures. Of course, he hasn't appeared on an HGTV property in several years, so he isn't nearly as visible as he once was. And that's the way he seems to like it. So while it'd be nice to have confirmation that he's found the love he seeks, he obviously prefers to keep that side of his life to himself for the time being.