For some, two’s company and three’s a crowd, but that wasn’t always true for The Real Housewives of Potomac’s Ashley Darby and ex-Michael Darby.
Ashley recently opened up about “allowing other partners” into the relationship — and the strict rules they had in place to guide any romantic rendezvous — on Bravo’s Love Hotel.
But while the former couple may have found unique ways to spice up their marriage, these days, Ashley is only craving monogamy.
Ashley has been open about occasionally adding someone into the mix in her marriage for years, but it was a conversation with one of the handsome suitors in Episode 4 of Bravo’s Love Hotel that prompted her to open up more about her past.
“In my marriage, the rules were you can’t know the person and you have to agree and be together,” Ashley explained to producers.
Ashley turns down Jason over “throuple” admission
The topic came up after one of the men vying for her heart admitted to once being part of a “throuple.” Ashley and Jason, a 37-year-old real estate agent from Washington D.C., were casually hanging out at the hotel bar at the time, sharing a few drinks, when he mentioned his relationship history.
“Your girl had a girlfriend?” a curious Ashley asked him.
“That’s how I met them. They came to me,” Jason said of the eight month relationship with the two women.
Ashley took the news in stride, but the next day, she admitted to Jason that the admission had her re-thinking a possible love connection with him because of her own past and her desire not repeat the past patterns that she believed played a role in the downfall of her marriage.
Ashley and Michael split in 2022 amid rumors of infidelity, but didn’t finalize their divorce until earlier this year.
“Last night, it was a little shocking for me,” Ashley confessed to Jason.
Although Jason tried to assure her that he was just being “open and transparent,” the throuple news still left her second-guessing any future between them.
“I think it takes a certain personality type to be in a relationship that way,” she explained.
As for Jason, he didn’t want his chance at romance to slip away and tried to convince Ashley that he was no longer interested in sharing his life with more than one person.
“I made that very clear that’s not where I’m — the direction I’m going,” he told her. “I said that was a part of my life then.”
But for Ashley, it clearly opened up an old wound that she wasn’t eager to revisit.
“I understand and I am so not judging you for that,” she told him, before adding, “Part of the reason that my previous relationship didn’t work was because of a sort of similar situation, occasionally allowing other partners into the relationship.”
Ashley Darby says she only wants to be monogamous in relationships now
While Ashley told producers allowing others into the relationship had been something she agreed to in the past, it was no longer something she was looking for in her future relationship.
“I crave monogamy so much, like, I really want stable monogamous love,” she said.
She admitted that she may look like a “hypocrite” for turning Jason away because of his polyamorous past, but realized that, in the end, she had to follow her own heart.
“I feel that it could be something that Jason could do again and I just don’t really want to risk that or really be part of that anymore,” she said.
She doubled down on the decision later that day when she and the other Housewives hoping for love were asked to pick one eligible bachelor to go on a one-on-one date and she bypassed Jason, selecting Wale, a 38-year-old IT director from Providence, Rhode Island, instead.
“I’m not really into Jason, great guy, but not the guy for me,” she told producers of the move.
Things were heating up between Ashley and Wale at the outdoor adventure park date, where they tried out a giant swing, had some drinks and enjoyed a mini makeout session.
But Ashley isn’t out of the game just yet.
Later that night, she and Ralph, a 61-year-old sound system specialist from Nashville, Tennessee who has managed to capture the interest of all four Housewives, shared a surprising kiss of their own that had Ashley later describing it as something that made her feel like “time stood still.”
It looks like Wale may have some fierce competition while trying to win over this Housewife’s heart.
To find out who will become the frontrunner — or whether one of the new group of suitors headed to the hotel next week will make an impression — watch Bravo’s Love Hotel Sundays at 9/8c on Bravo or stream the episodes on Peacock, beginning the next day.
