Gio Rossi

Infobox character | colour = #BBDCFF
name = Giovanni "Gio" Rossi


caption =
portrayer = Freddy Rodriguez
creator = Tracy Poust & Jon Kinally
gender = Male
first = Betty's Wait Problem
last =
cause =
age = mid-to-late 20s (estimated)
occupation = Sandwich deli shop owner
title =
family = Antonella Rossi (sister)
sexual orientation =
spouse = Betty Suarez (love interest)
children =
relatives =
footnotes =

Giovanni "Gio" Rossi is a fictional character on the ABC television series, "Ugly Betty" played by Freddy Rodriguez.

Career

Gio Rossi declares in his first episode of "Ugly Betty" that he has a "five year plan" for opening a sandwich shop. He hopes to have the longest condiment bar in the world and three hundred seats. After having been fired from Mode, he takes a step toward achieving this plan by opening his own sandwich shop in "Something Wicked This Way Comes".

Relationship with Betty Suarez

Gio is introduced in the third episode of the second season of Ugly Betty as a sandwich cart vendor. He is first seen when Betty Suarez complained to him about her sandwich not having enough sundried tomatoes. He complained to Betty that he believed she was "a girl from the neighborhood" and not just another MODE girl but she proved him wrong. He was fired from MODE after Betty told Daniel about his rudeness, and Gio displays his resentment towards Betty. However, he quickly plans to start his own sandwich business and follow his dreams like Betty tells him to, after they bond over an errand Daniel sent her on. Betty offers to get Gio his job at MODE back but he doesn't want it back. He instead convinces Betty to follow her own dreams and take a writing class, which she does.

His relationship with Betty grows throughout his character arc, but is frequently characterized by conflict and affectionate fights. In "Something Wicked This Way Comes", he is forced to pose as her boyfriend in order for Daniel not to find out that Betty is dating Henry after Daniel overhears Betty talking about an office romance on the phone, while ordering tickets to a Broadway play. Daniel gets Betty the tickets to the play and gives them to Gio. However, Betty doesn't want to go with Gio and he goes with his sister, Antonella, after refusing to give the tickets back to Henry. Betty gets tickets for her and Henry from Mode's receptionist Amanda, but she sees Daniel there (who is on a date with potential client Sandra Winthrop), and is forced to sit with Gio to keep up the pretense of their relationship. Henry becomes jealous of Gio and Betty as they seem to be enjoying themselves. Betty and Henry secretly meet up during the play, but their cover is blown when Daniel discovers them and Gio stops posing as Betty's boyfriend.

Unfortunately, Gio's feelings for Betty have started to show in "Bananas for Betty" when he started looking at Betty and Henry together, to the dismay of Betty's sister Hilda, she asked him out for a date. After their evening together, Hilda told Gio that she wasn't "the Suarez sister you like" after she learned of his true feelings for Betty.

In "Odor in the Court", Gio's feelings for Betty come more into the open. He brings her a sandwich for lunch and comments that she smells nice, whilst annoying her by calling Henry "Egg Salad" and implying that he might cheat on her while visiting Arizona to go to his unborn child's sonogram. Later, he comes back to apologize, but Betty, under the influence of the drugged perfume, yells at him to go and never come back. He is visibly hurt by her words and leaves.

Later, Amanda tells Betty that Gio likes her, and Betty writes him an angry note about how much she does not like him in return. She goes to his deli to deliver him the note and ends up throwing a trashcan through his store window and then passing out. She wakes up in his store, handcuffed, but Gio refuses to press charges. He takes her to the doctor's office and remains with her, even after her family shows up. In the end scene, he teases her about the note and initiates a hug. Betty seems uncomfortable and ends the hug quickly. Gio watches Betty as she talks with Claire Meade.

In the episode A Thousand Words Before Friday, Gio competes with Henry in an experiment organized by Betty, in which both must use techniques mentioned in a certain book to get women's phone numbers. Both Gio and Henry attempt to pick up girls by insulting them, with surprising success. Henry wins the contest.

In the episode Twenty-Four Candles, Gio finds out it's Betty's birthday and after plans with Henry leave Betty waiting alone at a restaurant, Gio pulls up in a horse-drawn carriage and 'rescues' her. (The horse-drawn carriage had been depicted in Betty's opening dream sequence, however it was Henry who was driving.) After persuading a reluctant Betty on a ride "around the block," Gio attempts to reach Central Park to see the end of the firework display (something Betty had previously planned for her and Henry).

Unfortunately, the wheel of the carriage breaks and while Betty is getting out to help Gio 'rig' it, she spills hot cocoa on herself. Gio apologizes for not giving Betty the 'perfect' birthday and while Betty is accepting Gio's apology, construction workers welding a new structure make 'fireworks', which Betty points out. They stand there, looking up and the 'fireworks' and Betty rest her head on Gio's shoulder. He gazes down at her.

In the episode Burning Questions (Ugly Betty), Betty chooses to continue her friendship with Gio and hides it from Henry. They speak frequently on the phone. Later on Henry overhears Amanda saying that Gio has a crush on Betty and goes to Gio's sandwich shop to tell him to stay away from her. Henry punches Gio and Gio tells him that if he has so little time left with Betty he should be spending it with her not with Gio.

In the episode The Kids Are Alright (Ugly Betty), Betty has ended her relationship with Henry and begins to spend more time with Gio. Gio kisses Betty unexpectedly in his sandwich shop. She slaps him and runs out of the shop, but stops directly outside the store's door, apparently reconsidering the nature of their relationship.

Later, both Gio and Betty chaperone a junior high dance at Betty's nephew's and Gio's sister's school. Gio teases Betty about having kissed him and she denies it, obviously conflicted. Gio asks Betty to dance, and the two almost kiss. She runs out of the gymnasium in tears. Gio comforts her, accepting that while Betty is still in love with Henry, she is confused about her growing attraction to Gio. Walking home together, Betty asks Gio if he would like to go on a date with her. Gio demurs, saying that he doesn't think it would be a good idea. Betty challenges him, asking why he then kissed her, and danced with her. Gio responds, "I don't want to be the rebound guy; I want to be "the" guy."

On the final episode, Gio asks Betty to come with him to Rome for a month. Later on, that very same day, Henry proposes to Betty. She ignores both Gio and Henry and is confused and alone. Later on at the Annual Mode vs. Elle Softball game, Betty gets hit in the head with the ball while Gio and Henry are both standing next to her. The season ends with her walking out of her home with a suitcase in hand.