Dianna Russini's first guest namedrops Mike Vrabel in comeback show

Sahil Kurup Thu, November 12, 2026 at 7:53 AM UTC

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Dianna Russini appeared frustrated at the first mention of Mike Vrabel (Image: BetUS)

Dianna Russini launched her return show by steering clear of any mention of Mike Vrabel, though the initial reference to the Patriots coach unexpectedly came from a guest rather than the host herself.

During the premiere of 'The Russini Report' on BetUS TV, Russini concentrated on football coverage and addressed her hiatus only in broad strokes. She made no reference to Vrabel, with whom she was photographed holding hands at an Arizona resort in images published by Page Six in April, nor did she discuss the scandal that prompted her resignation from The Athletic.

The broadcast - delayed by approximately 45 minutes due to the BetUS website crashing from overwhelming traffic, according to a spokeswoman for her publicist - took an unexpectedly uncomfortable turn when guest Damon Amendolara departed from the planned script.

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Prior to launching into a discussion about the NFL trade deadline, Amendolara, a SiriusXM host and former CBS radio personality, inquired whether Russini had encountered any entertaining memes recently.

She responded with humor about an AI-generated image of herself.

Dianna Russini appeared frustrated at the first mention of Mike Vrabel (Image: Getty)

"Yeah, a lot of them. A lot of memes out there, D. Thank you for reminding me," Russini said. "I will say, though, I do think the AI version of me is like an L.A. 10. That is the way I want to look. My nose is small, my forehead only looks three fingers. I'm like, 'This is what I want to look like.'".

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Amendolara then identified his personal favorite: an AI-created spoof of a "Tiny Desk" concert featuring Russini on saxophone while Vrabel and several Patriots players played other instruments and sang. "To have Vrabel and Patriots playing, outstanding, and then the big reveal having you on sax was amazing," Amendolara said. "That to me was peak apex Dianna Russini and this whole thing with the memes."

At the mention of Vrabel, Russini paused and appeared frustrated before shifting focus to discuss the instrument. She revealed her saxophone experience spanned from fourth through eighth grade.

"It was perfect, it fit," Russini said. "If I had to do an instrument, that was the one I should be playing."

Dianna Russini resigned from The Athletic on Tuesday, April 14 (Image: Getty)

Amendolara mentioned his other preferred meme featured Russini as the dog sitting in a burning room captioned "This is fine." She dismissed the topic with a casual shrug.

"There are a lot of funny people out there," Russini said. "So I hope you all have had your laughs."

Her initial remarks centered on family matters. "Over the last few months, I have had a lot of time to think about my life and my priorities and the person I want to be moving forward, and being home in New Jersey with my husband and our two little boys and being truly present," Russini said.

"It gave me so much perspective that I didn't even know I needed."

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Source: “AOL Entertainment”