Getting candid. Southern Charm alum Ashley Jacobs admitted that she wasn’t in a good place while dating ex-boyfriend Thomas Ravenel.
“It was just, it was dark,” the reality star, 34, told Entertainment Tonight in a video interview posted on Wednesday, July 24. “I lost a lot of weight. I wasn’t taking care of myself mentally. I suffered from depression.”
Jacobs said that being isolated from her friends and family back home in California contributed heavily to her negative mental state. “I no longer felt safe. I wasn’t in a good place myself,” she explained. “It was extremely lonely, because I didn’t have the support of my family, they were very disappointed in my decision.”
Though the registered nurse said she still talks to Ravenel and credits him as her sole support system during that period in her life (“The only person I had was Thomas … We were in the trenches together”), she confessed that the politician’s personal issues also took a toll on her.
“If you’re dating someone and there’s allegations, you can imagine just that in and of itself,” Jacobs said in reference to the May 2018 sexual assault accusations made against the former South Carolina state treasurer, 56, by two different women, including his children’s former nanny, Dawn Ledwell. (Ravenel shares daughter Kensington, 5, and St. Julien, 3, with ex-girlfriend Kathryn Dennis.)
Ravenel’s former lawyer, Richard P. Terbrusch, gave a statement to Us Weekly at the time: “My client enjoys a certain degree of fame and unfortunately has become — unfairly — a target for an individual who has, in my opinion, dubious motivations.”
Ravenel was arrested on charges of assault and battery over the alleged incident with Dawn in September 2018. As of May 2019, he had not entered a plea.
Bravo confirmed that the he would not appear on season 6 of the hit TV series.
Jacobs was also famously slammed over her on-camera interactions with Ravenel’s ex Dennis, 26, after she called the model an “egg donor.” She later apologized to Dennis and show fans in an open letter.
“[When] you add custody … you’re adding children, you’re adding the show, yes, and two people just in a relationship … we were still just trying to figure it out,” she told ET in Wednesday’s clip.
Jacobs and Ravenel, who began dating in May 2017, appeared to call things off in August 2018.
The medical professional, who has since returned home to the sunshine state, also addressed allegations that she only dated Ravenel to be on TV. “I’d lie if I didn’t say there was some element of it that was fascinating,” she confessed. “I was intrigued. It was different.”
She now has no desire to be a continued part of the series, despite her recent appearance on season 6. “It left such a bad taste in my mouth. There’s some trauma related to it [Charleston].”
Instead, Jacobs, who told Us in August that she fears her reality past will haunt her when it comes to finding a partner, said she hopes to start a family of her own. “I really want [motherhood] for myself, too,” she said. “I hope that that’s next in my future. My own family with the right person. Someone who doesn’t watch Southern Charm.”
Ravenel’s rep has not responded to Us‘ request for comment.
