A lot has been made of former Bachelor and current Bachelor in Paradise contestant Ashley Iaconetti’s virginity. She admitted her lack of sexual experience when she was on The Bachelor, and, of course, that became Ashley’s “thing” the whole season. Everyone is known for something on these shows. On Bachelor In Paradise, Ashley’s virginity has been less of a storyline (probably because it’s not news to us or anyone), but really, the producers were saving the best for last. Though Ashley declared her love for Jared Haibon very early in the season (who got his heart broken by Kaitlyn on her season of The Bachelorette), Jared has gently — and more than once — let her down, saying that he just isn’t feeling it with her on a romantic level. With other women circling and time in Paradise running out, previews make it seem like Ashley has sex with Jared as a last-ditch effort to make him stay — or does she?
Frankly, Ashley can ask all she wants, but if Jared has already expressed his disinterest in Ashley (and his interest in some of the other women in Mexico with them), why would he hit up the Fantasy Suite with Ashley? Everyone knows that she’s never had sex before, so there's no way he'd be the guy who has openly said that he didn’t like a girl but has sex with her anyway. This is television. We are all watching. Jared, who seems nice enough, is not that person, and so, I am very, very certain that Jared and Ashley do not have sex on Bachelor In Paradise, no matter what the previews say.
The Bachelor franchise is notorious for red herring preview edits (wasn’t there supposed to be a pregnancy on this season?), so I’m putting no stock on the clips of Ashley asking for a fantasy suite-type date for her and Jared. That footage could be staged. It could come from someone else speaking, and it could have been filmed for something else entirely. There are a host of reasons that are not privy to the public why those words of Ashley asking for a that type of date could have been uttered, and I’m not sure that any of those will actually lead to Ashley losing her virginity live on national television.
I mean, if she does and Jared wants to, that's her business and good for her. But, on this occasion, I'm pretty sure it's not going to go down like that. Can’t fool me, Bachelor in Paradise producers!
Images: ABC/Rick Rowell
