Fitness influencer Jono Castano quizzed over spikes of ‘fake’ followers after his Instagram account gained 12,000 in one day

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As a long-time follower of Jono Castano, I’m a little concerned about some recent reports. It seems like there’s been some scrutiny over whether his Instagram follower count is genuine, and even his girlfriend, Emily Ryder, is facing similar questions. Apparently, analytics have shown some really strange, sudden jumps in their follower numbers, which is raising some eyebrows – mine included! I really hope it’s all just a misunderstanding.

The popular fitness influencer, with nearly a million followers, hasn’t addressed recent data showing unusual activity on his account. On January 28th, he gained over 12,000 followers, even though he lost over 300 the day before. The next day, he lost more than 1,100 followers.

Okay, so things were pretty normal for a while, a little down even, but then February 4th happened! It was insane! He gained over eleven thousand followers in a single day! Seriously, 11,443! I was checking his account constantly, and it was just… exploding. It was so unexpected after seeing the numbers dip a bit before, but it was amazing to witness!

Emily, with over 30,500 followers, unexpectedly gained 5,798 new followers on February 5th, even though she didn’t make a post that day.

On surrounding days, her follower changes ranged from a drop of nine to a rise of 42.

Concerns about the sudden rise in follower counts are happening as brands are now carefully checking influencer accounts before working with them.

As a long-time industry follower, I’ve always understood that authenticity is key. I recently heard from someone in the know that they simply wouldn’t collaborate with anyone who has a lot of fake or unreliable followers. It just creates too much uncertainty and makes building a genuine connection impossible.

When the Daily Mail asked for a response, Jono playfully shared an old Instagram video. The video showed him looking amused while checking his follower numbers.

The video description was changed to say: ‘I hope this saves you time and money when creating content. I have important stories to tell if you’re interested.’

I’ve been following this situation closely, and it seems like the person involved subtly signaled they think the whole thing is being blown out of proportion. They actually sent a ‘pointed eyes’ emoji to the Daily Mail – it’s a little way of saying they feel the controversy isn’t as big a deal as everyone’s making it out to be, at least from their perspective.

When similar accusations surfaced in 2023, he quickly defended himself, stating, ‘I’ve worked in fitness for 14 years and built a strong online following. These claims are completely unfounded and simply rumors.’

According to RMIT social media expert Professor Lisa Given, a sudden increase in followers doesn’t necessarily mean the growth isn’t genuine.

Okay, so looking at Jono’s follower count – nearly a million! – an increase of around 11,000 doesn’t actually feel that big. It’s all relative, you know? And honestly, seeing a dip of a few hundred followers here and there? Totally normal and nothing to worry about. It happens to everyone!

This follows a recent public disagreement between Jono and his former partner, Simone Holtznagel, who share a nearly two-year-old daughter named Gia. They argued about how to best raise their daughter and financial support for her.

The conflict began when Simone publicly shared on Instagram that Jono had only been contributing $40 a week towards child support for quite some time, and she expressed her frustration about it after a monitored visit.

Jono disputes Simone’s accusations that he didn’t pay her enough, and has provided records showing he sent her thousands of dollars starting in December.

He admitted that until recently, he’d only been paying his ex-partner $45 a week in child support. They hadn’t been able to reach an agreement on the amount, and he claimed she’d asked for a sum he considered unaffordable.

I was honestly shocked when I saw Simone’s Instagram Story on Friday! She was just having a blast, dancing around with her little one in her arms, and, well, let’s just say she gave the camera a very emphatic gesture. It was definitely a bold move, but it felt so authentically her – just a mom letting loose and not taking things too seriously!

She captioned a video, jokingly describing how she would react if her child’s father arrived 45 minutes late to their scheduled, supervised visit.

Simone criticized Jono’s former wife and business associate, Amy, as well as his current girlfriend, Emily Ryder, and then questioned the validity of his driver’s license.

She described arriving at the location in her new boyfriend’s car, which was being driven by her husband – neither of them owned a car themselves.

This so-called celebrity trainer hasn’t held a valid license for four years and recently learned about basic child support obligations exceeding $40 a week.

They actually had the nerve to ask if I was pregnant, simply because I have a bit of a tummy! It’s unbelievable – the sheer confidence, the disconnect from reality, and the total lack of self-awareness are astounding.

Jono responded to Simone’s popular post with a video on Instagram Saturday morning, just hours after it was published.

He accused Simone of posting false information, then shared screenshots of bank transactions proving he’d sent his ex-partner nearly $8,500 since December.

However, he did concede he’d been making significantly lower payments before then.

Simone claimed Jono asked about a possible pregnancy, referring to her stomach. However, Jono clarified that he actually said he was ‘very happy for Gia if she was pregnant’.

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2026-02-25 03:34