Ashley Iaconetti Reveals Whether She Was Asked to Host Hulu’s Virgin Dating Show: ‘I Was the 1st!’ (Exclusive)
Jason Pham
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As one of the most memorable virgins in Bachelor Nation history, even Ashley Iaconetti is surprised she wasn’t considered to host Hulu’s new virgin dating show, Are You My First?. “That I’m jealous of. Excuse me, was I second in line for this opportunity?” Iaconetti tells StyleCaster while promoting her partnership with Chicco.
As for why Iaconetti thinks she was passed up for the opportunity, she believes that the show—which is Season 23 Bachelor Colton Underwood and Season 11 Bachelorette Kaitlyn Bristowe—wanted a “dichotomy” between its two hosts. Underwood was a virgin on The Bachelor, while Bristowe made history as the first lead to have sex outside of the Fantasy Suites on The Bachelorette.
“Of course, you’re going to go with Colton, who was a lead. I think they wanted a girl and a guy. I think they wanted a dichotomy,” she says. “With all due respect to Kaitlyn, they wanted someone who had sex on TV, and then someone who was a virgin on TV. So the two of them make total sense, and I love the two of them.”
She continues, “But am I a little jealous? Yeah, because I thought I would be in the mix. I was the first, and then it became a trend after me. I’m like, ‘See guys! It’s not that weird. See producers! It wasn’t that crazy, and you found so many others.’”
Related: Which Bachelor couples are still together?
Iaconetti originally made headlines when she revealed she was a virgin on The Bachelor Season 19 with Chris Soules. She then went on to appear on Bachelor in Paradise Seasons 2 and 3 where she met her now-husband, Jared Haibon. The couple married in 2019 and welcomed their child, a son named Dawson, in 2022. Their second child, another son named Hayden, was born in 2024.
While neither of her kids have watched their parents’ seasons of Bachelor in Paradise, Iaconetti confirms that her eldest has seen the current season. “Dawson’s trying to watch Bachelor in Paradise now, because sometimes I have to watch the screener before I do my podcast,” she says. “He loves Bachelor in Paradise. He sings the paradise song, and he asked me to play in the car. I like, ‘OK, some of this is inappropriate.’ But at least when it comes to all dating shows, it’s still one of the most appropriate.”
She continues, “He asks me questions like, ‘Who’s that girl? Who’s that guy? What’s he doing?’ I try not to make it a habit, but he’s seen an hour or two. He’s not regularly watching with me.”
While Dawson hasn’t watched Iaconetti’s Bachelor in Paradise seasons in full, she confirms that he is aware of how his parents met. “I’d definitely show parts of it when they’re older. More like a highlight montage. I do tell Dawson whenever I’m watching The Bachelor, The Bachelorette or Bachelor of Paradise, I’ll be like, ‘This is the show mom and dad met on!’ I think he’s grasping that. I’m totally down for him to know pretty much everything. There are some things where I’m like, ‘Don’t ever watch the entire thing.’ But I’m OK with that. It’s fun. It was great time.”
Iaconetti did confirm, however, that Dawson has seen some footage of her and Haibon on Bachelor in Paradise. “My mom has [shown him videos.] If she’s just watching him for a time, she’ll put on YouTube clips. I’ll be like, ‘Mom. That’s so awkward. I don’t want to watch that.’ It’s more about me not wanting to watch it back and Jared not wanting to watch it back,” she says. “He could not watch himself on TV. He hates it. But I don’t care if Dawson watches it. He thinks it’s entertaining.”
While Iaconetti hasn’t accomplished a Bachelor in Paradise rewatch with Dawson, she has successfully accomplished potty training with the help of Chicco, which recently launched its first-ever potty training consisting of a Toddler Training Toilet and a 3-in-1 Potty Training System .
“The Toddler Training Toilet makes sound and looks like a real toilet, so if your kid is into realism, that’s great. Dawson took to the toilet topper quite quickly. That’s why I like the 3-in-1 Potty Training System,” she says. “It could be its standalone potty or you can just take the topper and put it right on top of the regular toilet. Then he has a single step stool that comes with it. He just does that all by himself. It’s not an eyesore. It looks very sleek and modern. It’s easy for him to use, easy for us to clean, and it’s portable on the go.”
