Whitney Sudler-Smith Unpacks Decision to Cast Ashley Jacobs for "Riveting Television"
Southern Charm's Whitney Sudler-Smith praised show alum Ashley Jacobs for joining the show when things felt "stale."
Whitney Sudler-Smith has been part of Southern Charm since the very beginning — and he's actually one of the main reasons why the show exists.
The South Carolina native, who is Patricia Altschul's only child, was the one who got the cameras rolling, and the rest, as they say, is history. In a sit-down for BravoTV.com (video at the top of the post), Whitney opened up about the evolution of the show, and how new personalities would come on the show and refresh the cast dynamic. One alum who Whitney thinks made a considerable impact was Ashley Jacobs.
"It's amazing. We've been quite lucky, too. Just when you think someone's played out, or a storyline is dead or something, something f-----g insane or somebody comes up from out of the darkness," he said in the clip at the top of this post, while sitting alongside his mother. "Season 5, we were getting stale [and] suddenly out of nowhere comes Ashley. Riveting television."
Ashley appeared as a friend on Season 5 of Southern Charm, and she also popped up as a guest briefly on Season 6.
Where is Ashley Jacobs from Southern Charm now?
The registered nurse's life looks very different nowadays.She moved back to California after her time on Southern Charm came to an end. She met her now-husband, Mike Appel, at a rooftop party in Santa Barbara in 2019.
Ashley and Mike got engaged in Park City, Utah in 2021, and they secretly got married that same year. The California resident announced her pregnancy in June 2021, and she gave birth to their first son, Grayson Maxwell, in August of that year.
Fast-forward to September 2024, and Ashley confirmed her second pregnancy in a chat with People. "I've come a long way since my Southern Charm days!!!" Ashley told the outlet. "My husband, son and I are thrilled to announce that we are expecting baby boy #2 in FIVE WEEKS!!! We cannot wait for his arrival and to watch our boys grow up together. Grateful is an understatement!"
Ashley confirmed the birth of her second son on Instagram in November. "One week with our boys," she shared on November 10. "Our hearts have never been so full 🫶 Our family is complete!
She rang in her 40th birthday just a few weeks later, on December 1. "KISSING MY THIRTIES GOODBYE (But look at what my thirties gave to me!). [40] Photo cred: My wonderful husband," she wrote in the caption of her post.
