Ok, as you say, it looks like HTML is getting encoded before binding. You need to decode it in
RowDataBound
method. Example:
protected void GridView1_RowDataBound(object sender, GridViewRowEventArgs e) {
if (e.Row.RowType == DataControlRowType.DataRow) {
e.Row.Cells[columnIndex].Text = Server.HtmlDecode(e.Row.Cells[columnIndex].Text);
}
}