The couple chatted with ET about their family's reaction to their rekindled romance and knowing they were meant to be.
Ashley Iaconetti and Jared Haibon are definitely head-over-heels for one another.
The Bachelor alums confirmed that they had rekindled their romance last month on Ashley's web series, The Story of Us, and have been inseparable ever since. After meeting three years ago during Bachelor in Paradise, the couple is now enjoying their time together and sharing it with the world.
ET's Lauren Zima sat down with the lovebirds earlier this week, where they dished on saying "I love you" for the first time, moving in together and why they kept their relationship private for a few months.
"We knew that there was a lot of backstory and history with us and we really wanted to date and just have a relaxed, easygoing relationship because we've never been boyfriend/girlfriend throughout our entire relationship," Jared explained.
Earlier this year, fans saw Ashley date Kevin Wendt on Bachelor Winter Games and subsequently part ways. "I didn't watch Winter Games," said Jared. "I didn't want to. I couldn't. It was difficult."
"I called [Kevin] before we went public with the news and told him," Ashley revealed. "He was very nice about it, totally understanding and supportive."
The couple had met each other's families in the past as friends but when they shared the news to their families, Jared's mom said, "Thank God, finally!" The reality star had told his mom before his trip to St. Lucia that he had feelings for Ashley and she told him, "You have to tell her!"
So when did they know that it was time to rekindle their romance?
"For me it was really just love at first sight," Ashley expressed. "I don't know when in the past couple months did I decide [I wanted to be with him]. I always knew we had something I'd never experienced before. We're similar and different in the most compatible ways. We really complement each other."
Jared on his end calls Ashley "the love of my life," sharing that he has so much gratitude to have her as part of his life. The two moved slow and then said "I love you" about six weeks into being a couple. They both knew it was meant to be.
"He would even say 'love of my life' before he said 'I'm in love with you,'" Ashley said.
"I wanted to make sure," added Jared. "I wanted us to date for a little while before we said those words to make sure this was real. And I wanted it to be important. We were in bed, we were lying there. I couldn't wait anymore! We were talking throughout that entire [Stagecoach] weekend about how much we liked each other, and I was like, 'I don't like you, I love you!"
"I was super nervous to say it," he continued. "I was like, 'I hope she says it back.' I said, 'I'm completely obsessed with you, I'm addicted to you.'"
For now, their main focus is to enjoy "being with each other" and save the marriage talks for later. "He can do it whenever he wants," Ashley chimed in, adding that if he proposed, she'd say "yes."
Meanwhile, the two plan on living together "at some point" within the next year. However, Ashley revealed that she wouldn't "want to live together unless we're engaged."
"He doesn't know this," Ashley began. "But I don't think I'd want to live together unless we were engaged."
"Well that's something I didn't know," Jared replied. "I'm a little traditional like that," she added.
As far as the difference between keeping their relationship a secret and going public, Jared says he now gets to put his love on display.
"The only difference is I get to show her off on social media," Jared gushed, with Ashley adding, "He's very PDA-ish, which I do love too... He loves to be all over me all the time."
"I can't keep my hands off her," marveled Jared. "I'm the luckiest guy in the world."
"He really is making up for lost time -- all three years are like coming at me right now!" laughed Ashley.
While they've already found love, Becca Kufrin is trying to find the man of her dreams on the latest season of The Bachelorette. On Monday's premiere episode, one of Kufrin's suitors, pro football player Colton Underwood revealed that he was a virgin. Ashley did the same thing when she competed on season 19 of The Bachelor.
"It's like I'm passing the crown and saying, 'Colton, this is your thing now! You deal with talking about it in public,'" she said. "But what's amazing about Colton is we've seen girls on the show be virgins, and prove you can be pretty, sexy and cool without having sex. Now, it's going to be awesome for girls to be able to look at Colton and say there are hot guys out there who have made the same decision! And obviously there are people who are willing to wait."
Now that she's passed the torch, she's happy to stop talking about her virginity.
"I was fine talking about my sex life when it was just pertaining to me," she added. "But now that there's another person involved in that, I'm going to keep quiet."
For more on Ashley and Jared, watch the video below.
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