Ashley Iaconetti may be busy after welcoming her second baby with her husband, Jared Haibon, but she’s all caught up on The Bachelorette.
The latest episode of the ABC reality dating show, which aired on July 29, ended with Jenn Tran’s ex-boyfriend Matt Rossi surprising her in New Zealand to confess his lingering feelings for her.
“We haven’t really seen anything like this since Nick [Viall] tried to come in on Kaitlyn [Bristowe]’s season in the middle of it, and that was a little bit different because they had never really dated,” Ashley, 36, exclusively told Us Weekly while promoting her partnership with Grubhub.
While Matt admitted that he still loves Jenn, Ashley is unsure whether his intentions of joining the show in hopes of rekindling their romance are true. “I think that when your ex becomes the Bachelorette, you have a whole new glow and fascination about them, right? ‘How did you let the Bachelorette go?’ So, I can understand his feeling of desperation and being like, ‘Wow, I’m such an idiot. Why didn’t I lock this girl down when I could’ve?’”
She continued: “But I think that’s probably where the move is coming from. I think he’s just like, ‘Oh, my God, the Bachelorette, how did I let her slip through my fingers?’ I don’t think that they’re really compatible in the long run.”
The Bachelor Nation star added that she was “shocked” to learn that Matt traveled from the U.S. to New Zealand on his own dime. “That is not a cheap ticket,” she quipped.
Fans will have to wait and see whether Jenn will allow Matt to join her group of Bachelorette contestants on the Monday, August 5, episode, but Ashley shared more of her hot takes on this season’s group of guys, including first impression rose recipient Sam M. Though he and Jenn share a strong physical connection, he was criticized by Jenn for not addressing her feelings of fear during a skywalk date during the July 29 episode.
“I am now mixed after that episode where he had the one-on-one,” Ashley told Us. “I think he’s still gonna go far. I think he had, like, his little villain moments, but I still think that there’s something there.”
She went on to joke that it would be funny to see Sam M. in Jenn’s final two with fellow frontrunner Devin as the two have butted heads all season. “I don’t necessarily trust [Sam],” she stated. “So, in the Devin and Sam showdown, I think they’re both a little flawed characters, but Devin is a little more root-able.”
Between keeping up with the latest Bachelorette drama and taking care of her newborn son, Hayden, Ashley isn’t worrying about dinnertime thanks to her partnership with Grubhub. (Ashley and Jared, 35, also share son Dawson, 2.)
“[It’s] honestly the coolest partnership ever because they’re giving a $20 credit towards moms’ first meal[s] post-delivery,” she explained, noting that being able to eat foods that aren’t permitted during pregnancy is something all moms “look forward to.”
She added: “A lot of women will use this as an opportunity as the time to eat the food that was restricted from them. … For me, Grubhubbing sushi post-delivery to the hospital was awesome.”
The Bachelorette airs on ABC Mondays at 8 p.m. ET.
With reporting by Travis Cronin
