After years of friendship and just weeks of dating, Bachelor in Paradise stars Ashley Iaconetti and Jared Haibon are engaged, The Hollywood Reporter can confirm. Haibon asked for Iaconetti’s hand in marriage this Sunday while filming an appearance on the upcoming fifth season of the Bachelor franchise spinoff series in Mexico.
The couple first met in 2015 while filming season two of reality dating competition Paradise. Iaconetti has since been outspoken about her unrequited feelings for Haibon, as they each reappeared on the following season. Years later, when the pair announced their relationship status in May, the news was met with surprise. The pair confirmed their romance in an episode of Iaconetti’s YouTube series, The Story of Us, not long after the Access Hollywood correspondent called it quits with her Bachelor Winter Games co-star Kevin Wendt. Iaconetti and Wendt appeared together on Winter Games, the Olympic-themed spinoff series in the franchise, earlier this year.
“I never felt like it was over between us after Paradise,” Haibon explained in the video of their unique courtship. “I’m not going lie and say that I was in love with Ashley [at first]. It was a slow build for me.”
Iaconetti, who also hosts iHeartRadio’s Bachelor-themed podcast Almost Famous, and Haibon’s engagement news comes just weeks after current Bachelorette lead Becca Kufrin revealed that she accepted a proposal at the end of her season. Last month, during a conference call with The Hollywood Reporter and other media, Kufrin opened up about giving in to the “process” of the show, despite Arie Luyendyk Jr.’s blindsiding on-camera breakup on The Bachelor.
Compared to original series The Bachelor, the female-fronted Bachelorette and spinoff Paradise each produce more successful couplings. Last year’s Paradise ran with a shorter season when the series was temporarily shut down over a sexual misconduct investigation.
The Bachelorette airs on Mondays at 8 p.m. on ABC. Bachelor in Paradise returns to the network this summer.
