Age of Attraction’s cocreators addressed contestant Ashley Marie revealing that her search for love as a virgin at 38 was cut.
“We loved Ashley for all of it. At a certain point, it just came down to tough editorial choices,” cocreators Rebecca Quinn and Jennifer O’Connell exclusively told NewsPlop. “But we’re really happy to see her getting her flowers — she deserves that.”
Ashley took to TikTok in March to discuss how she ended up on the show.
“[Someone] else was reached out to over social media and they’re like, ‘I’m married but you have to meet my friend Ashley.’ And on my 38th birthday, I got a text that said, ‘Don’t hate me but I just gave your name to a casting director,’” she recalled. “If it was any day other than my birthday, I’m honestly not sure I would have even answered. But once you get to a certain age and you really want to be married and have kids — birthdays can be a little bit tough. That biological clock reminder is like time is ticking and you have to find someone soon.”
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Ashley prayed about the decision before joining. “I was like, ‘All right, got it. This is where you want me to go then open the door. If it’s not, please close it,’” she said. “I can’t say yet if I’m dating anyone from the show or if I’m still single. I will say I made two very strong connections on my end and for me it was a very healing process because it had been so long since I had felt for a guy. I was starting to actually think, ‘Did I break something? Can I still have feelings?’”
In the video, Ashley noted there is “probably one thing about me that has really affected my dating life,” adding, “I’m gonna start to talk about it more, but it’s something that I haven’t really talked about in a really long time outside of my close circle. That is that I’m a virgin, [and] waiting for marriage. I know. Take it in. I am going to continue to share my story — both in my personal and dating life — because I feel like it’s such a lonely time to be 39 and single and no kids. Hopefully it will help people feel like you’re not alone in this phase.”
“Nervous about sharing what I did at the end. Spilling some tea about my time on Age of Attraction, the new dating show on Netflix,” Ashley captioned the post. “Going on a dáting show isn’t exactly something I thought was in my future but life tends to take us down unexpected paths. I was very prayerful about the decision and trusted that God would take me where he wanted me to go.”
Quinn and O’Connell addressed her revelation, sharing, “We were aware Ashley was a virgin, but she’s so much more than that. We really try not to reduce people to one label — especially when they’re layered, complex and bring so much more to the table.”
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The creative team also weighed in on the show’s success, which led to a season 2 renewal.
“Honestly, it’s hard to predict what’s going to hit and what won’t. The only thing we can control is making shows we’d actually want to watch,” they shared about the process. “And for us, that’s something a little juicy, a little steamy, slightly unhinged — but still heartfelt. So seeing people lean in the way they have — texting about it, debating it, picking sides — that’s the win for us.”
They concluded: “We love that we sparked a real conversation and whether you believe couples with a range of age differences works or not, people love talking about it! Our goal was never to tell the audience how to feel, but to present the relationships honestly and let viewers draw their own conclusions. We were also very intentional about showing a range of dynamics, including ones that don’t often get as much visibility, and we think that’s part of why the conversation has been so active.”
Age of Attraction is streaming on Netflix and the reunion is now available on Nick Viall’s “The Viall Files” podcast.