Ashley I. Doesn’t Think Mike Johnson Should Be ‘Bachelor’ — His Castmate Fights Back
The Final Rose
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Though Hannah Brown’s Season 15 of The Bachelorette isn’t over just yet, there is already a frontrunner for next season’s The Bachelor lead: Mike Johnson.
Mike was an immediate fan-favorite during Hannah’s season and his too-early elimination left viewers heartbroken and shocked. While he didn’t find love on The Bachelorette, he’s put himself in a great position to be the next leading man — especially after a strong showing on July 22’s Men Tell All special.
However, there’s one member of Bachelor Nation who doesn’t seem to be in Mike’s corner for the gig, and that’s Ashley Iaconetti.
The Bachelor franchise alum revealed in her FabFitFun Snapchat recap of The Bachelorette this week that she hasn’t heard great things about Mike from people who got to know him on this season of Bachelor in Paradise.
“Mike’s definitely trying to be the Bachelor. He has a lot of support behind him and, I don’t know, I didn’t have the best first impression of him. And I still haven’t heard the greatest of things from people who were down on Paradise with him,” she shared in the clip.
Ashley also shared on her Almost Famous podcast this week that she didn’t enjoy her (brief) interaction with Mike when they were recently introduced.
“I think they are trying to make [him] the Bachelor, or at least trying to plant the idea of him being the Bachelor in some people’s heads. I just don’t think it’s going to happen,” she shared on the episode, released on Monday, July 22.
“I was kind of honest a couple of weeks ago when I did meet Mike, albeit very briefly, I didn’t get the warmest vibes from him.
She continued, “He didn’t come across in person the way he did on TV, that’s all I’m going to say about that because truly I exchanged maybe two minutes of conversation with the guy.”
Though Ashley did explain she’s only spent a few minutes with him, former Bachelorette contestant Dylan Barbour jumped to his castmate’s defense on Twitter.
Dylan Barbour (ABC/Craig Sjodin)
Dylan cryptically tweeted on Wednesday, July 24, “Miss me with this ‘mike tea.’ Some people always have an agenda I guess.”
Miss me with this “mike tea”
Some people always have an agenda I guess 🤷🏻♂️— Dylan Barbour (@therealDBcoop) July 24, 2019
A fan responded to Dylan’s tweet and said, “Ashley I. just loves to s**t talk people. Trying to stay relevant I guess. She always suddenly changes her mind when she wants them on her podcast,” and Dylan simply tweeted the handshake emoji back.
🤝
— Dylan Barbour (@therealDBcoop) July 24, 2019
What do you think of Ashley not wanting Mike to be the next Bachelor star? Who would you like to see as the next leading man?
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