Bachelor Nation Alum Questions Timing of Franchise Star’s New Romance

Heavy Ashley Iaconetti questions when Jason Tartick's new romance started.

A member of Bachelor Nation admitted she has questions about the timing of a fellow franchise veteran’s new romance. “The Bachelorette” star Jason Tartick recently went public with his romance with TikTok star Kat Stickler. “Bachelor in Paradise” star Ashley Iaconetti noted she thinks there’s more to the story than what Tartick has shared.

Here’s what you need to know:

Ashley Iaconetti Thinks Jason Tartick & Kat Stickler Started Dating Months Ago

Iaconetti shared her thoughts during the June 17 episode of the “Almost Famous Podcast.” Her comments came just days after Tartick and Stickler shared their first public joint Instagram post confirming their romantic relationship.

As Iaconetti and her “Almost Famous” co-host, former “Bachelor” Ben Higgins chatted about Tartick’s new relationship, she admitted she had questions.

“Well, they’re saying that they met when they recorded an episode of ‘Trading Secrets,’ his podcast together, but that episode didn’t air until April,” Iaconetti noted.

Stickler’s episode of Tartick’s podcast, “Trading Secrets,” was released on April 29. He had mentioned the plan for her to do his podcast earlier than its release, however.

In March, TMZ caught up to Tartick and asked him about Stickler. He noted, “She was just on my podcast,” signaling they had already recorded her episode.

He played coy on questions about the two dating, though. “She’s great. I think very highly of her,” he declared. During the podcast, there was a moment where Tartick asked if Stickler was flirting with him. They both seemed to get slightly flustered over it.

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Iaconetti noted during the “Almost Famous” podcast she believes  Tartick and Stickler “were 100% together before April.”

The “Bachelor in Paradise” alum acknowledged she didn’t know if Tartick “banks” podcasts. As she explained, “banking” podcasts refer to recording and holding finished podcasts for some time before releasing them.

The “Almost Famous” co-host wondered if that particular episode with Stickler and Tartick had been pre-recorded and held. Considering what Tartick told TMZ, that was indeed the case.

“I think they may have banked it because of their chemistry,” Iaconetti speculated. She added, “I think they’ve been together since January-ish, certainly not April.”

Stickler and Tartick play coy regarding when they first started dating. Speculation about the pairing began in February.

In “The Bachelor” subreddit, one fan noted the gossip social media account Deux Moi posted an Instagram Story about Tartick and Stickler being spotted together.

At that time, some Bachelor Nation fans knew Stickler planned to do Tartick’s podcast. One Redditor noted, “She’s on his podcast so maybe just business but we will see if he can hide feelings for her and we will know soon enough lol.”

Additional spottings of Tartick and Stickler together popped up on Reddit somewhat regularly after that for a few months. Now that they have acknowledged their relationship, they have shared additional posts about one another on Instagram.

On June 13, Tartick shared a photo of Stickler on Instagram that was taken “the day after our first kiss.” He gushed, “I’ll never forget this night.”

However, Tartick did not specify exactly when he took the photo. He explained Stickler was on a plane, about to leave town the day after their first kiss. She FaceTimed him and suggested she get off the plane and spend the weekend with him.

She impulsively got off the plane, and “that night we had our first dinner where it was just us,” Tartick recalled. The former “Bachelorette” star admitted, “I’ll never forget the feeling I had taking this picture right before that first date night.”