Growing up on O‘ahu in Hawai‘i, Gizelle Blanco spent most of her time outdoors. She loved hiking, walking trails, and spending time on the beach and in the ocean. She tended plants, painted, and crafted handmade jewelry out of shells she found on the shore or in underwater caves.
She dreamt of a happy, fulfilling life full of family, friends, animals and travel, but never had a specific vision of her future beyond wanting to explore as many different aspects of life as she could. So what led her to the adult industry?
“Beauty and seduction,” she confides. “I discovered how those two things could make people melt into a puddle of lust and desire — and that I was capable of making people feel that way.”
Blanco scored her first gig as a stripper at age 18. Despite being relatively inexperienced with both sex and performance, she quickly became comfortable expressing herself openly.
“I found it extra funny how natural it came for me to be ‘seductive,’” she recalls. “I embrace that sexuality is a natural part of the human experience. I don’t believe sex was meant to be hidden and labeled taboo like society tells us, otherwise why would we all feel such urges?”
Realizing that she could make a real livelihood out of sharing her most intimate moments with those who felt the same way, Blanco started an OnlyFans. Within a few years, she made the move from indie content to shooting for major studios like Adult Time, Slayed, Brazzers, Girlsway and Evil Angel, ultimately rising to industry stardom and being crowned 2024 XBIZ Girl/Girl Performer of the Year.
She describes her adult career trajectory as a story not only of success, but of personal and spiritual growth.
“From my first year in the industry to now, I’ve evolved in ways I could have never fathomed,” she reflects. “First off, I never thought I’d ever live anywhere else but home and now I’ve been living in California for three years. I’ve traveled all across the country feature-dancing in towns I never thought I’d get to see, but that were so beautiful nonetheless.
“Personally, I’ve learned to set boundaries and when to say ‘no,’” Blanco continues. “I’ve learned how good it feels to nourish my body properly through food and exercise. I’ve learned to enjoy my solitude, learned I am worthy of being loved for who I am, and found the things that make my heart and soul sing.”
In addition to coming to know herself, Blanco says, she has also improved as a model and performer, learning more deeply about her body while becoming increasingly aware of creative aspects like camera angles and lighting techniques. She credits top directors and studios for bringing out the best in her, citing Laurent Sky and Vixen Media Group as two of the most formative influences in her career development.
“Whenever I work with Laurent, I feel like I’m pushed in a great way to be the best I can be on camera,” she says. “He challenges me to get creative on set with lots of dirty talk and testing my endurance to give my all in a scene. Performance aside, I feel so sexy on a Vixen set! From glam, to wardrobe, to naughty scripts, to the final product of it all, I’ve always felt incredibly proud of the work I do on their sets.”
Blanco enjoys an abundance of shooting opportunities, something she attributes in part to her agents, George Jiries and Mark Spiegler of Spiegler Girls. Working with them is also part of the reason she has performed in so many girl/girl scenes, which she says are the ones both she and her fans now enjoy most.
“Some studios require more high-energy scenes, which were a personal favorite of mine for the longest time,” she explains. “However, after working more with Adult Time and Bellesa, I’ve learned to love the passionate and sensual scenes just as much. Some of my favorite scenes I’ve done over the past year were for them, Brazzers, Vixen and myself. It’s hard to say which scenes I’m most proud of, especially after working with so many great co-performers this year! I really just love my job, so I honestly put my best foot forward in any scene I shoot.”
That being said, the reigning Girl/Girl Performer of the Year adds that throughout her career, her attraction to women has helped infuse those scenes with authenticity.
“Women are the epitome of beauty in my eyes,” she explains. “We [women] are soft, gentle and beautiful, but we can equally be passionate, even rough and nasty when it’s begged for. We can understand each other’s bodies more and how things feel. I love to spoil every woman I work with, with lots of whatever it is they like, sensual kisses and overall worshiping. I feel like other girl/girl performers who are genuinely into other women in real life can resonate with some of what I’ve mentioned.”
In addition to her girl/girl scenes, Blanco’s solos and stripteases sell well on her Onlyfans, followed by her boy/girl content.
“I handle collabs simply by request from my fans — or if I had really good mutual chemistry with a performer on set, then we work something out after,” she notes. “I feel like fans can feel when people have good chemistry together.”
She has also recently begun doing weekly live shows, finding that her fans enjoy connecting with her that way as well. All of that adds up to a lot of hard work, but Blanco says she still makes sure to find time for herself, her passions and recharging whenever possible.
“To be honest, I’ve been quite selfish with my time lately,” Blanco confesses. “I’ve been going through a lot of personal challenges in my life for the past couple of months that have been helping me grow into a better version of myself by teaching me new lessons.”
Achieving that work-life balance sometimes makes it tough to keep up with social media, especially since Blanco handles hers alone rather than with a management team. One of her biggest struggles has been having her accounts disabled repeatedly despite not posting anything overly risqué.
“My Instagram account was disabled in the middle of convention season right after the XBIZ Awards this year,” she says. “It was the most followers I’ve ever been able to attain! But if I did it once before, I can do it again.
“However, things are finally looking up again and I’ve been slowly gaining my energy back by spending time doing things that make me feel good and making content outside of just sex appeal,” she shares. “I’ve been messing around with more day-to-day content like cooking, or girly “get ready with me” videos, sharing more of my real-life personality — even though it really isn’t much different than on screen.”
Blanco recalls how shocked she felt the moment her name was announced as XBIZ Girl/Girl Performer of the Year.
“I had gone to the bathroom!” she laughs. “I arrived back just as my name got called as the winner. I legit froze for a second, not thinking it was real. My heart almost stopped! Then I looked around to see some of my peers looking back at me like ‘Go! Go! Go! They called you!’ I ran up with tears welling in my eyes, audibly shouting, ‘What the fuck?!’ all the way to the stage. I was speechless and breathless. I will never live down my silly, raw, emotional acceptance speech.
“It was eye-opening in the sense that I had no idea how much performing really meant to me until I won my first award,” she adds. “Plus, I had worked with almost every woman on the nomination list, and they are all such phenomenal performers! I looked up to them. Then I couldn’t believe the overwhelming support I got from the audience cheering me on. I think that’s what really struck a heart string for me.”
Now, looking ahead to the rest of 2024 and beyond, Blanco is thrilled about what the future holds.
“I have lots of plans for the rest of the year, but I can’t exactly share them yet,” she teases. “I’m excited to see where the rest of the year goes, because so far it’s looking pretty damn good!”
