Whitney Sudler-Smith is the creator and executive producer of Southern Charm. For 10 seasons, Whitney has watched this series evolve on Bravo. Admittedly, various years have been better than others. But if you ask Whitney, the two seasons that featured Ashley Jacobs were “riveting,” as Ashley brought the drama to a rather stale era of Southern Charm.
Ashley Jacobs brought the drama Southern Charm needed, states Whitney Sudler-Smith
Ashley appeared as a friend on Season 5 of Southern Charm. Her entrance made sense, as she was dating Thomas Ravenel, a series regular. Yet, Ashley clashed with Kathryn Dennis, the mother of Thomas’ two children.
Ashley popped up again as a guest briefly on Season 6, where she and Kathryn once again came to verbal blows, and the bulk of the cast (and the viewers) took sides with Kathryn.
Ashley ended her romance with Thomas shortly after. She now lives in California with her husband and their two little boys. Her name has not sounded on Southern Charm ever since.
In a sit-down with BravoTV, Whitney and his mother, aka the matriarch of this series, Patricia Altschul, gabbed a bit about Ashley’s time spent filming on Southern Charm.
“It’s amazing. We’ve been quite lucky. Just when you think someone’s played out, or a storyline is dead or something, something f*cking insane, or somebody comes up from out of the darkness,” Whitney began, setting up his statement to touch on all things Ashley.
Whitney then continued, explaining that in “Season 5, we were getting stale [and] suddenly out of nowhere comes Ashley. Riveting television.” Whitney also labeled Thomas as “crazy and compelling.” He then revealed that Thomas is the character who helped to launch this series in the first place.
Whitney is correct. Ashley and Thomas created highly antagonizing scenes. Many of us watched these seasons on the edges of our seats, mainly because we were yelling at our screens. But hey, viewership is viewership, so we can understand what Whitney means.
Thankfully, Ashley and Thomas are now happily living separate lives, far away from Bravo.
Southern Charm returns on January 2, 2025, at 8/7c on Bravo.
TELL US – WAS ASHLEY A RIVETING CHARACTER ON SOUTHERN CHARM?
