Friendly exes! Kevin Wendt, who dated Ashley Iaconetti after meeting her on Bachelor Winter Games, commented on his ex’s Instagram photo on Wednesday, May 23, following the news that she was dating Jared Haibon.
“You deserve it Ash,” he wrote on the photo of the couple. “Congratulations to you both.”
Haibon, 29, and Iaconetti, 30, revealed in the Tuesday, May 22, episode of The Story of Us, that after three years of a very complicated friendship, they started dating in March, shortly after she broke it off with Wendt, 34. The pair first met in 2015 on Bachelor in Paradise and while she was very into him, he was not. That began their long friendship, which included some flirting and making out over the years, and an argument-filled second season of Bachelor in Paradise together.
However, it wasn’t until Haibon went onto Bachelor in Paradise in Australia in 2017 that he realized his feelings. “I was just sitting there and thinking, ‘God, I wish Ashley were here,’” he said in the video. “I just wanna hang out with Ashley.” He returned home and began texting her, but then she had to leave for Bachelor Winter Games, where she met and began dating Wendt.
“I was sad,” Haibon said in the video, about his reaction when he heard the news. “Sometimes I need a kick in the ass. That was a big kick in the ass.”
After she returned, they went on vacation with Jade Roper and Tanner Tolbert, and Tolbert convinced Haibon to tell her his feelings – so he did, and kissed her at the airport. However, she felt it was important to give her relationship with Wendt a real try first. However, when the season aired in March, she realized Wendt wasn’t the one. “I just knew in my heart at that point that it wasn’t right with Kevin. I ended the relationship because it had run its course, and then Jared was still there,” she said.
From that point on, Haibon started wooing her – with flowers, love letters, etc. – and still does today. In their video, both broke down in tears over how lucky they feel. He even read the first letter he wrote her during the video, which caused Iaconetti to “scream cry.”
“He tells me every day that he’s the luckiest man alive,” she revealed. He responded, “I am.”