Nick Viallhas had a front-row seat toAshley IaconettiandJared Haibon‘s relationship, so he has plenty to share about theirengagement.
As fans will recall, it was Iaconetti and Haibon’s second stint on theBachelorsummer spinoff. Once again, Iaconettipined over Haibon, unapologeticallysabotaging his chanceswith fellow contestant Caila Quinn. But still, Haibon resisted her advances, and it seemed all but obvious that these two would never work out — making their happy ending even sweeter in hindsight.
“When I was on the show with them, I told Ashley she should get over Jared and she would never be with him,” recalled Viall, 37.
The two remained friends, and Viall said their circle “kind of just accepted that they wouldn’t be together.”
“But we also kind of thought, like, ‘Why aren’t you guys together?’ ” he said. “Because there was always a lot of love between them. It was like, ‘Jared — just date [her]!’ ”
After Iaconetticalled it quits with Wendtin March, Haibon professed his love to his longtime friend and they started dating. They officiallyconfirmed their relationship in late May, and the rest is history.
“Honestly, it’s a cliché, but Ashley moved on and started dating someone else … and I think Jared kind of had this epiphany,” said Viall. “If Ashley ever ends up with someone else, I’m going to lose probably the most important woman in my life.I think he realized that and kind of admitted to himself how much he probably loved her already. In general, men are just kind of slow and dumb. We just figure things out later.”
“For all movies likeHe’s Just Not That Into Youand [people telling her] ‘just get over it’ … this is kind of that real-life fairy tale ending,” he said. “Ashley believed in herself and she believed in her emotions for Jared, and she took a lot of criticism along the way.”
As for what Iaconetti will be like at the wedding? According to Viall, she’ll be a “chill” bride — but expectthe waterworks, of course.
“I think she’ll be a really kind of mild bride, I really do,” he said. “Ashley, for all of her crying and emotions, she’s very intelligent and very determined. She actually can be very chill under pressure when she needs to be.”
“For example, since she’s gotten with Jared, I’ve been kind of wondering how Ashley would react,” he added. “But she’s been so chill and really enjoying it. I think she’s just really excited — but she’s going to cry. She’ll cry a lot.”
source: people.com
