Ashley Jacobs has already reflected upon how it feels to be called a Southern Charm villain.
Now, she’s opening up about much more, including her time as Thomas’ girlfriend.
According to Ashley, that was the darkest and most miserable year of her life.
In a new interview with Entertainment Tonight published this week, Ashley Jacobs is opening up about her prolonged relationship with Thomas Ravenel.
"I went back a few times to [Charleston, South Carolina to] visit him," Ashley shares. "And I thought, could I make this work?”
“This is a great town, I’m a registered nurse. I can work wherever I want …" she notes.
"I know someone who has an in, not into the reality TV show, but has an in into a town," Ashley describes.
She notes that it’s a place "where I can kind of sit back and let him take me around, and show me the best places to live, the best places to eat."
"And," Ashley adds, most perplexingly of all: "I like this person."
Ashley reflects back on her time joining the cast of Southern Charm as Thomas’ girlfriend and of her feud with Kathryn Dennis.
"It was dark, and it was really lonely and, yeah, I was really lonely,” Ashley admits.
“I lost a lot of weight," she reminds everyone. "I wasn’t taking care of myself mentally …"
Ashley can now see: "I suffered from depression, situational depression."
Not ideal circumstances at any point in life, but especially not for your reality television debut.
She also explains why she was so vulnerable and so emotionally dependent at that time.
"I didn’t have the support of my family,” Ashley shares.
“They were very disappointed in my decision," she reveals. "And so the only person I had was Thomas."
"He was my support system," Ashley characterizes. "We were really in the trenches together …"
"I stayed by his side because I needed his support," she explains. "Because I wasn’t getting support from anyone else, not even my family."
Ashley also notes that Thomas being accused and then arrested on rape charges definitely impacted their romance.
"I mean, if you’re dating someone and there’s allegations [against them], you can imagine just that in itself [takes a toll]," Ashley reasons.
She adds: "It concerned everyone that was close to me."
"That was really difficult,” Ashley admits. “That’s not normal."
"Then you add custody, and then you’re adding children, you’re adding the show, and two people in a relationship just trying, you know?" Ashley lists.
"We were still trying to figure it out," she describes. "It wasn’t meant to be."
"It left such a bad taste in my mouth, really,” Ashley says of her time lived in Charleston.
“There’s some trauma related to it," she admits. "As much as I look back at pictures and I think, what a beautiful place. …"
Ashley confesses: "I still can’t help but feel [like] that really sad, lonely, depressed person."
"I don’t ever wanna go back to that place,” Ashley affirms. “Like I said, it was the worst year of my life.."
"I don’t think I could make it any better," she assesses. "I tried. It didn’t work."
