Southern Charm has quietly become one of Bravo's most popular television shows, profiling the
rarest of social circles in Charleston, South Carolina, and the prominent families and massive
wealth that makes them hum.
Of course, it's Southern Charm's "characters" who bring viewers back week after week.
And much of the show revolves around disgraced former politician and dynastic scion Thomas
Ravenel.
He and his ex, Kathryn Dennis, have two kids together and have fought contentious custody
battles, as well as their own personal demons.
But in Season 5, Ravenel's new lady love, Ashley Jacobs, joined the cast and stirred
things up.
Here's the untold truth of Thomas and Ashley on Southern Charm.
She's not even Southern
Throughout her run on the show, Jacobs has struggled to fit in with the rest of the cast,
which has put a noticeable strain on her budding romance with Ravenel.
Jacobs stands out as the opposite of Kathryn Dennis or Patricia Altschul.
She's from Southern California, and met Ravenel at a bar, not a high-society gala.
And as far as her livelihood is concerned, Jacobs doesn't seem to pay the bills with
family money.
She was a registered hospice nurse before reality TV came calling.
His political future is history
On screen, Jacobs seems to have grand plans for her future with Ravenel.
It seems that if Jacobs had her way, she and Ravenel would get married, he'd get back into
politics, and they'd become the next Donald and Melania Trump.
Ravenel was once a big player at the South Carolina statehouse...until he was busted
for distribution in 2007, forcing him to resign as state treasurer.
In 2014, he unsuccessfully ran for the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate, and then ran as
an independent, where he earned just 3.9 percent of the vote.
Accepting that the public service period of his life is probably over, Ravenel said in
Season 5 that Jacobs' apparent desire that they'll one day become president and first
lady is quote, "not gonna happen."
Is their love even real?
Is the addition of Jacobs to Southern Charm just a little too perfect?
She's embodied the classic reality show villain archetype so perfectly from day one that some
viewers wonder if she's a ringer, introduced by producers to create ratings-boosting drama
on a show that, up until now, didn't feature a whole lot of Real Housewives-style cat-fights.
Rumor has it Ravenel and Jacobs didn't really have that meet-cute in a bar.
According to Heather McDonald on her podcast Juicy Scoop, Southern Charm co-star Landon
Clements introduced Ravenel and Jacobs, since she knew Jacobs from back when they were both
call girls, and that's when Ravenel allegedly decided to hire Jacobs to pose as his lady.
According to Tamara Tattles, insider scuttlebutt claims Jacobs auditioned for the show in the
past but lost out to Chelsea Meissner.
Accusations of assault
On the show, Ravenel has demonstrated his affinity for drinking, partying, and romancing
women.
But his behavior may have veered from the charming, into the criminal.
In April 2018, a woman named Ashley Perkins revealed via Twitter that Ravenel was accused
of assaulting her mother in 2015.
According to Perkins, on Christmas of that year, Ravenel and mom, Debbie, went on a date,
at which time Ravenel...
"[G]rabbed [Debbie] by the wrist and held her down, before exposing his genitals and
digitally violating her."
Perkins said her mother sued Ravenel and, with the help of famed attorney Gloria Allred,
negotiated a settlement in June 2016 for $200,000.
Then in May 2018, according to a police report obtained by the Charleston City Paper, a woman
alleged that Ravenel sexually assaulted her at his home in 2015.
The woman who fans will recognize as the caretaker for Ravenel's children, "Nanny Dawn," told
People:
"Although I believe he should be in jail for his crimes, the reality according to statistics
is that he will go unpunished."
He might already be gone
The allegations against Ravenel came to light well after the fifth season of Southern Charm
was already on the air, but his future with the show remains unknown.
A Bravo source told People,
"No decision has been made yet and the investigation is still ongoing."
However, Radar Online reported Ravenel was barred from the show's reunion episode.
FITSNews reported that at least two other cast members vowed not to show up for the
reunion if Ravenel did, and sources for gossip site Tamara Tattles claim he won't be back
for Season 6.
But if Ravenel exits the show, it might be curtains for Jacobs, as well.
Could their relationship survive off-camera?
Only time will tell for these reality stars.