Entertainment
Thomas Ravenel's New Girlfriend Is Already Causing Waves On 'Southern Charm'
A new season of Southern Charm is upon us, which means more Thomas Ravenel and Kathryn Dennis drama (thank God). From the previews of the new season, it looks like Thomas has got a new girlfriend, and she's not going to get along with everybody on the show. So who is Thomas dating on Southern Charm? Her name is Ashley Jacobs and I don't think she's here to make friends, at least if the clips of her interactions with Kathryn are any indication.
Kathryn continues to be the best part of this show, as evidenced by this clip, which shows the two women dressed to the nines, including elbow-length white gloves, naturally, getting into a heated argument outside a fancy old house. Ashley tries to scoff at Kathryn, but she's no match for the reality TV veteran's righteous motherly rage. I'm not sure what Ashley did that caused Kathryn to fly off the handle at her, but Kathryn told her coldly, "I want you to know, you’ve crossed the line. And as a mother, f*ck you." The fight devolves from there while Thomas, as is typical of him, looks on without visibly supporting or defending either woman. Sure this isn't the most mature behavior, but it is absolutely why I watch reality television. So naturally, I wanted to know more about this Ashley person. After a social media deep dive, here is what I've learned.
She's A Vocal Christian
Ashley often tweets about Jesus, praying, how to respond to people who try to bring you down, and "haters." According to her Twitter, she's a proponent of the love thy enemy method of dealing with conflict. Then again, that clip did show her telling Kathryn they weren't a family, she was a "baby mama." So maybe she doesn't always adhere to that advice.
She's A Republican
Most of the stars on these reality shows tend to stay pretty politically neutral (except Thomas who literally ran for office on the show). Ashley, however, proudly shows off a tote bag emblazoned with little elephants symbolizing the GOP on her Instagram.
She Really Loves Thomas
Thomas' love life has been a major storyline since the very beginning of this show. As the father of Kathryn's two children, Kensington and St. John, the couple's tempestuous on-and-off-again relationship has caused not insignificant drama for the whole cast. While Kathryn seems to go back and forth between loving and despising Thomas, Ashley's social media posts about him are nothing short of gushing, with captions like "In a sea of people, my eyes will always search for you," and "I wanna spend the rest of my sunsets with you."
She's Friends With Landon
Landon Clements may have left the show, but she's clearly still got connections to the rest of the cast, including to Thomas with whom she had a brief flirtation in Season 4. Don't let that make you think that she doesn't get along with Ashley, however. In an interview with People, Landon said, "His girlfriend Ashley is a sweetheart, and we’ve become really good friends, and she’s moved to Charleston and is getting her nursing license to switch over."
Judging by the lovey-dovey social media posts, it looks like Thomas and Ashley are still going strong even after the show stopped airing — meaning that Kathryn was unable to get in between them, though I wonder if this relationship has affected Kathryn and Thomas' custody agreement, which still appears to be on somewhat shaky ground. All I really know is that I can't wait to see how this relationship shakes things up for the Charleston crew.
