Ashley Iaconetti & Jared Haibon Explain Why Their ‘Bachelor In Paradise’ Love Story Will Make History

Ashley Iaconetti and Jared Haibon won’t be the first Bachelor in Paradise couple to walk down the aisle—pals Jade and Tanner Tolbert and Evan Bass and Carly Waddell beat them to it—but they do get bragging rights for another important milestone in The Bachelor franchise.

In a new interview with Entertainment Tonight, the newly engaged Bachelor in Paradise lovebirds revealed why they are unique from any other couple in The Bachelor franchise’s long history.

“I will say that it’s cool that with The Bachelor, they’re getting their first story that really evolved outside of the show, and they’re getting a friendship story and they never really had,” Iaconetti told ET. “They have two people who it never worked out onscreen with, but then somehow it happened.”

Ashley Iaconetti and Jared Haibon got engaged in front of Bachelor in Paradise’s cameras while filming scenes for the upcoming fifth season of the ABC reality show. The couple met three years ago on The Bachelor spinoff but their reality TV romance never really took off in front of ABC’s cameras. It wasn’t until earlier this year that Haibon realized he was in love with Iaconetti, whose unrequited crush on him was well documented on the show.

After a three-year cat and mouse game, the Bachelor in Paradise stars officially revealed their romance news on Iaconetti’s relationship show, The Story of Us, in May.

After a quick courtship and engagement, Iaconetti now says she hates being apart from her fiancé.

“We never get tired of each other,” the reality star said.

Haibon agreed that after filming Bachelor in Paradise and spending “every minute together” for a week in Mexico, he got “separation anxiety” when he had to part ways with Iaconetti when they got back to the states.

After a romance that was three grueling years in the making, Iaconetti says she and her future husband really balance one another out.

“My strengths are his weaknesses and his strengths are my weaknesses,” Iaconetti explained. “So it just really works, and then our interests are very similar so we bond over the same things. But when it comes to hard stuff, we really balance each other out.”

For the wedding, the couple has revealed that longtime pal Tanner Tolbert is their top pick for the officiant. (Sorry, Chris Harrison.) Iaconetti also dished that she wants a “big” wedding (presumably in front of ABC’s cameras) and wants to wear a “ball gown” when she exchanges vows with Haibon.

Jared Haibon’s proposal to Ashley Iaconetti will play out on TV when Bachelor in Paradise premieres next month on ABC.