Ashley Iaconetti found true love with her husband, Jared Haibon, on the reality television show Bachelor in Paradise, but now that real life is hitting at home, the couple is facing a major problem. Ashley opens up about their struggling business during the above preview of The Real Housewives of Rhode Island series premiere, airing Thursday, April 2 at 9/8c on Bravo.
“It’s been almost four years since we opened up Audrey’s Coffee House & Lounge,” Ashley shares with producers as she describes their South Kingstown, Rhode Island business. “It is the second-rated celebrity-owned restaurant in the United States — Bon Jovi being number one.”
“Now is it a huge money maker? No,” she candidly confesses. “We thought it would make more money than it is.”
RELATED: Who is Ashley Iaconetti? Meet The RHORI Cast Member Going “From Roses to Pearls”
Elsewhere in the preview, Jared hints at more trouble when he declares, “The ice machine’s not working again? F—k me. It’s always something, I swear.”
The woes continue as Ashley tries in vain to prep her husband for an upcoming Fourth of July party with the other ‘Wives, but he’s busy behind the coffee counter making drinks and calling out customer names, leaving Ashley visibly annoyed that he’s not listening.
Details on Ashley Iaconetti and Jared Haibon’s Rhode Island coffee house
Ashley shared that Audrey’s Coffee House & Lounge was officially open on her Instagram in Dec. 2021. She also revealed that the spot is named after her mother, and detailed the vision behind the business.
“It’s been a dream of Jared’s to open up his own place like this…a coffee shop turned martini/wine bar at night,” she wrote in her post before praising her husband’s dedication. “He’s been putting in 16 hour days, but the hard work is reflected in what he’s created with @audreyscoffeelounge…I’m so proud of him!”
RELATED: Andy Cohen Previews RHORI Ahead of Premiere with Juicy New Intel: “There Is Not a Dud Episode”
Jared spoke more to South County Life magazine in Dec. 2024 about why it was so important to him to have his business in his home state of Rhode Island.
“I love Rhode Island so much because of how small it is and how there are generational families that grow up within Rhode Island, including my own,” he told the outlet. “I love the community that Rhode Island has. Being able to own a business that has built a little sense of community, in terms of students wanting to come and study there, [to] lawyers [bringing] clients because they need places to meet up. I have a lot of strangers that I did not know prior to opening that now come in daily, which means the world to me because if you enjoy our establishment enough to come in pretty much every day or almost every day, there is no higher compliment than that.”
Although there are homages to Bachelor Nation in the shop, Jared mentioned that he also modeled the decor and vibes after two other television shows: Friends and Cheers.
“I love the idea of a coffee shop where you can go in and work and gather with friends or hang out with family and then at night, you can come in and get an espresso martini if you like,” he added in the same interview. “Our phrase is ‘Coffee til cocktails.’ We have a lot of regulars that come in and we know everybody, like Cheers, where everybody knows your name. That’s what we strive toward.”
Ashley Iaconetti’s career, explained
Ashley has another career in addition to co-owning the coffee house: social media influencer.
“I actually went to broadcasting school. I got my master’s in broadcasting at Syracuse,” she told The Daily Dish in an exclusive interview. “I wanted to be an entertainment reporter.”
It was during a broadcasting job search that she ended up signing up for The Bachelor, which led her to social media and podcasting.
“[I] kind of found my place in influencing and podcasting, so that’s what I do now,” she added of her podcast The Ben And Ashley I Almost Famous Podcast with The Bachelor alum Ben Higgins. “I speak to my 1.2M followers on Instagram about mom stuff, beauty stuff, life stuff.”
Before you catch the RHORI series premiere, make sure to sit back and stream all of the other first Real Housewives episodes and major Bravo firsts with our Real Housewives watch guide.
