We’ve always held out hope for former Bachelor In Paradise couple Ashley Iaconetti and Jared Haibon to reunite, and now, three years after Ashley first fell for Jared, it has finally happened! The adorable couple revealed the news that they’re officially dating on an emotional episode of Ashley’s show The Story of Us, and there were tears shed by both of them.

“It was a slow build for me,” Jared revealed, explaining why it took so long after they first met to commit to Ashley, especially when she was crazy about him immediately. He says that he had “very high expectations for [himself]” going into BIP, but in the end he really did get the relationship he was dreaming of. “It’s weird you say you had high expectations but then you ended up finding your wife,” Ashley said, laughing. “I know, I ended up finding the love of my life,” Jared responded. He revealed that it wasn’t until a charity event last October that he knew he had real, non-platonic feelings for Ash, but once he knew, it didn’t take long to act on them.

Now that they’re a couple, Jared is doing everything he can to prove to Ashley that he’s serious, from “filling [her] apartment with flowers” to “writing love letters” to “telling [her] every day he’s the happiest man alive,” and Ashley is cherishing every second. Despite how long it took for him to realize it, Jared is so happy Ashley never lost faith in him. “I’m living proof that you should listen to your gut and it’s not too late,” he said.

Honestly, fans 100% saw this coming. On March 28, Jared went on Dean Unglert’s podcast to insist that he was still single and had been for the last six years. But fans theorized that the couple had already reunited after Ashley cut things off with her Canadian beau Kevin. They thought that maybe Jared couldn’t admit that because his season of BIP Australia hadn’t finished yet so he couldn’t give away the ending.

One fan offered this theory for why they kept it quiet for so long: “I don’t think Ashley would want to go public with it either at this point, since it would look like she dumped Kevin for Jared, which she probably did, but I don’t think she wants to advertise it. She’d look like an idiot once they crash and burn again.” When Kev found out she was with Jared, he didn’t seem too hurt, even tweeting, “Happy for you both ash, he’s a lucky man,” with a heart emoji.

jared and ashley bachelor couple
(Photo Credit: Getty Images)

The relationship could explain why Ashley told ET that she wouldn’t do any more dating shows. “I’m going to go ahead and say [I won’t be] a cast member on any more Bachelor shows. If they want me to come back for cameos, [I’m] all for it, but not a cast member on The Bachelor again.”

She will, however, always be grateful for the Bachelor franchise for bringing her and Jared together. The pair first met during Season 2 of Bachelor In Paradise but broke up after their fantasy suite date — no, they didn’t have sex — and both left the show. But, their days in paradise were far from over as they both went on to appear on Bachelor In Paradise Season 3, where Ashley had a thing for Wells Adams and Jared had his sights set on Caila. Still, seeing Jared fawn over Caila was devastating to Ashley, and her feelings for him remained strong. Finally, three year later, she finally got the happy ending she always wanted. Congrats, guys!

ashley i and jared haibon

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