Gabriel Medina (Supposedly) Got Engaged Yesterday, The Stats Tell Us He’s Deadly In Love
Is Gabby on the cusp of an early-30s competitive renaissance?
In October, Gabriel Medina and then-girlfriend-now-fiancée Isabella Arantes cryptically revealed that they were expecting a baby.
Except they weren’t. The whole thing was a Slaterean psyop to bring exposure to his surf brand for children, Medininha. It worked. Medina’s post racked up more than 300,000 likes and 5,000 comments. The new Medininha account quickly gained over 16,000 followers.
This time, however, it’s not a dupe — there’s still no pregnancy, but surfing’s dark prince is getting married again. Maybe. Yesterday, Gabriel Medina dropped a knee, ripped out the Tiffany blue, and proposed to his girlfriend, Isabella, in the midst of filming a TikTok video set to “Single Ladies”.
Arantes is a savvy entrepreneur in her own right, starring in Brazilian TV shows, acquiring social media brand deals, and running her own swimsuit company. The two, it seems, will never have to rely on a sticker on Gab’s nose ever again — which is good, because Medina has been without a main sponsor (by choice) since January.
For Medina fans, 2026 has all the signs of a comeback year for the 32-year-old three-time World Champ.
The last time we really saw the Gabby we know was five years ago in 2021, when he dominated the tour— taking two events (Narrabeen and Rottnest Island) to finish nearly 13,000 points ahead in the regular season, and then the world title win at Lowers. Medina described it as the best of his life: “This has been my best year in terms of results. I made some changes. I feel better prepared, physically and mentally. This was the year in which I felt most complete. I tried to make the most of the places we visited and live the present while not thinking about the past. That helped me to keep my feet on the ground.”
2021 was also the beginning of life changes for Medina. He fell in love and was married to Brazilian model and actress Yasmin Brunet, who was seen on-site at all contests and provided a sense of stability for the World Champ. He also made the brave and awkward decision to switch coaches from his step-dad Charlie to Andy King. “It was the first time that I sought out a new coach. I feel good just being with him. The more we trained, the more confidence I built up. As a result, in the end I was making very few mistakes while training. Nothing is achieved by chance. I think we will continue together next year, but we haven’t sat down yet to talk about it. My plan is to continue with him.”
But things, as they do, got messy. In early 2022, Medina got a divorce from Brunet, one of the foundations of his 2021 competitive zenith. He also had a widely publicized fallout with his immediate family, reportedly the result of his rapid-fire marriage. Medina then took the first half of the 2022 season off to prioritize “mental health”.
In 2023, Medina tried to mount a comeback, but missed out on competing in the WSL Finals by one spot, ranking 6th overall. A year later, in 2024, Medina started showing signs of his old self — winning a Bronze medal in the Paris Olympics with that historic Jumpman flyaway heard-round-the-world. He still, however, missed out on the Final Five, ending the year in 7th place.
Then, last year, just as things looked like they were back on the up, Medina tore his left pec in half during a training session in Brazil. The recovery took eight months, and he missed the entire 2025 season. If Medina’s life was a film and we were following Hollywood screenwriting story structure, 2025 was Medina’s Act Two “all is lost” moment.
But, now, in 2026, with Medina still in his physical prime, healed up, and with, by all accounts, a secure, healthy relationship, Gabs is in pole position to vie for a climax and not a premature dénouement. He is currently sitting in fourth position on the WSL rankings with his strongest Tour stops — Teahupo’o, Cloudbreak, and Pipeline — still to come.
Will a mature, happy, recently engaged Medina mount the comeback the surfing world wants and win his fourth world title, eclipsing JJF, Mick Fanning, Tom Curren, Andy Irons and in turn?
Who knows — but a happy and in-love Medina is dangerous indeed.
Congrats and best wishes to the happy couple.
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