Ashley Iaconetti is well known in The Bachelor world for two things, crying and being in love with Jared Haibon. Ashley has been obsessed with Jared for over a year now and he keeps making it perfectly clear that he just does not have a romantic connection with her. Even though the two have admittedly shared a few kisses, they have always remained just friends. Iaconetti decided to surprise Haibon and make her second appearance on
Iaconetti decided to surprise Haibon and make her second appearance on Bachelor in Paradise for season three this summer. Surprise him Ashley did and tons of drama would follow as Jared decided to pursue Caila Quinn. Ashley has since published then re-published her weekly recap on Cosmopolitan that cleared the air about what really went down in Paradise, on and off camera.
Iaconetti says she went to Paradise to meet someone new. While that may have been her intentions, her focus quickly turned back towards Jared once again. The two had several tearful discussions about why she was there and about his blooming relationship with Caila. Ashley wanted to protect Jared and maybe at times she still had hope she could have a chance at a real romantic relationship with him. Needless to say Ashley’s first few days in
Needless to say, Ashley’s first few days in Paradise let her live up to her tearful expectations. Even though newly named Bachelor Nick Vial had told Ashley it would never happen between her and Jared, Ashley explained in her Cosmopolitan blog that she needed to hear Haibon say it himself so she could have closure and move on.
Opening credits: the *only* time Ashley I. isn’t crying so far this episode @BachParadise #BachelorInParadise pic.twitter.com/XEO0MAQhEj
— Good Morning America (@GMA) August 23, 2016
The love triangle between Ashley, Jared, and Caila reached a climax this week on Bachelor in Paradise when Caila decided she was done and left. After speaking with Ashley, Jerad would follow Caila and leave as well. Iaconetti still says her intentions were simply to protect Haibon from Caila. Ashley had revealed in her first published Cosmopolitan blog that while off camera Caila had made comments to Amanda Stanton about not really being into Jared and not wanting to go to the fantasy suite with him. Amanda shared this information with the other girls and this led Ashley to ask producers what she should do. They reportedly advised for her to go to Caila to clarify the accusations against her.
The original blog post that revealed this pertinent off camera information has since been edited. Fortunately, Reality Steve has shared photos of the original post on Twitter. In the newly updated blog from Ashley, she clarifies that certain things were removed from her post due to contract obligations. Iaconetti said that she did address the issues that she is not allowed to discuss with Caila. Ashley did confirm the blow-up between herself and Caila was edited a lot and not nearly as bad as it appeared on television.
(1/5) Someone at ABC wasn’t happy with Ashley’s blog about Caila. She posted, deleted, then re-posted w/ a lot of changes.
— RealitySteve (@RealitySteve) September 2, 2016
(3/5) What she originally wrote had a lot of references to edits, accusations of producer manipulation, & entire section of what Caila said
— RealitySteve (@RealitySteve) September 2, 2016
(4/5) But that’s all gone now. Here’s what it said… pic.twitter.com/su33nbDW2g
— RealitySteve (@RealitySteve) September 2, 2016
(5/5) Last 2 pages of original column… pic.twitter.com/5h8ut5gShE
— RealitySteve (@RealitySteve) September 2, 2016
Iaconetti revealed that Caila and Jared did try to date for six weeks after they both left Paradise. According to Ashley they ultimately ended their relationship because Quinn wanted to date different people. Haibon has also defended Ashley and said that the breakup he had with Caila had nothing to do with Iaconetti.
Ashley made mistakes in paradise, but she is not the reason Caila and I are not together.I respect Caila a lot but we had our own obstacles
— Jared Haibon (@haibon_jared) August 31, 2016
While the two women definitely had their differences, Ashley said, “Despite what I may have said, Caila isn’t an awful person.” Iaconetti went on to say she wishes Quinn would have taken more responsibility for her actions. Ashley did admit they both made mistakes in Paradise and that she let her emotions get the best of her. Ashley says her latest blog entry will be the last time she will address the drama that arose between herself, Caila, and Jerad.
In the midst of the drama going on in Paradise, Wells Adams walked in and Ashley was able to go out with him and actually really liked him. The rest of the cast kept telling Wells how much they believed he should take Iaconetti on his date. He did and they clicked.
The season finale of Bachelor in Paradise has not aired yet so fans will have to wait a little longer to see if Ashley and Wells decide to pursue their new relationship in the real world. It’s heating up in Paradise and fans won’t want to miss season three come to a close on ABC, September 6. Which couples do you want to see survive?
[Photo by Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images]