‘Bachelor in Paradise’ Alum Ashley Iaconetti Admits to Cheating on Her Ex With Fiance Jared Haibon

Ashley Iaconetti is responding to ex Kevin Wendt’s accusation during Tuesday’s Bachelor in Paradise premiere that she cheated on him with fiance Jared Haibon.

The Bachelor alum addressed the allegations that she had kissed Haibon while still dating Wendt following their Bachelor Winter Games romance in her Almost Famous podcast, which she hosts with former Bachelor Ben Higgins.

“I’ve always been, like, so open with everyone about my whole love life for the past three and a half years,” she said. “We were open about it because I thought it was a big part of Jared and my story. When Jared did come out about his feelings it was about exactly a month from the start of Bachelor Winter Games. I had been dating Kevin out in the real world for about two weeks.”

Calling the incident Wendt had mentioned a “moment of passion,” she explained her soon-to-be husband confessed his feelings to her in a very rom-com fashion.

“Jared came out with his feelings, and he kissed me in the airport,” she said. “We had mentioned this before, I admitted that I was dating Kevin and Jared kissed me. That is true. And whether you call that cheating, that is up to you, by most definitions it is. It was just one of those moments of passion. He pulled me in and I kissed him back, yes, but I never kissed him again until Kevin and I broke up.”

Iaconetti said she was confused about the romantic gesture at the time, saying, “He kissed me and then I said, ‘I shouldn’t have done that.’ And then I was overwhelmed with the thoughts of, ‘That felt right, but that was kind of like cheating, and I can’t believe I would ever cheat.’”

But when it comes down to it, the Bachelor Nation favorite said she wasn’t regretful of how things went down.

“It was one kiss a month into knowing Kevin with somebody that I had been really in love with for two and a half years,” she said. “People will say that’s cheating and sure, but don’t tell me you wouldn’t have gone through it. I mean, come on guys.”

And despite Wendt’s apparently negative feelings about what happened at the end of their relationship, Iaconetti had nothing but best wishes for him as he takes on Paradise.

“He helped me grow so much and he gave me so much relationship experience. I definitely needed to be with him in order to get to the place where I am now,” she said.

Although she was confused by his call out in the season premiere, she added how she was perplexed byt it.

“I was confused by the way he said he imagined marrying me because we never exchanged ‘I love yous,’ we never really thought beyond a couple of months,” she said. “I just think it was weird that he brought up the marriage term because I don’t think either of us really saw that… I don’t think that he was reeling from our breakup, so I hope he finds someone to be with because he so deserves it.”

Bachelor in Paradise airs Mondays and Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.

Photo credit: Instagram/Jared Haibon