If you guys read my review of last Friday night’s episode of Sweet Home Alabama, then you know I’m not a huge Ashley Ann fan. And who is? The girl is as fake as Kim Kardashian’s marriage, picked a fight with poor Mandy with a borderline-sociopathic calmness and to top it all off is now dating Jake “Underlying Rage Issues” Pavelka. Ick. So obviously when I talked to Tribble on the phone this week, I had to start there.
My first question? We’re all dying to know whether Tribble handed Ashley those bouquets of flowers. Sure, they were part of the set on their date – but did he present them to her as a gift? “I never handed them to her, no.” (I knew it!) Tribble’s a smart guy, he knew better than giving one of his dates flowers – “I knew it would cause an uproar in the house.”
Tribble didn’t know how much of an uproar it would cause though, because “at the time I still had a good opinion of her.” Had?
Yes, Tribble’s not much of an Ashley Ann fan anymore. Her behavior in the house didn’t impress him, and the news that she’s dating Jake? “It’s kind of a slap in the face. Frankly, I don’t care. But she’s still on the show and so she’s kind of making me look like a fool, by going around canoodling with this guy.”
And not just any guy, Jake Pavelka – a guy who makes a living being gross on TV. “They’re both seeking the same thing, they’re both seeking fame.”
“Viewers tend to get mad at me and say ‘What is Ashley still doing in the house?’ but quite frankly, at this point in the show I had no idea she was being so two-faced,” Tribble said. “Ashley and I had a great date.” None of the girls wanted to come forward and say Ashley Ann was being fake or two-faced, so Tribble could only judge her based on how she’d acted in front of him.
In particular, Tribble didn’t like what Ashley Ann said about Mandy when they were at the Clemson football game. (OK, I didn’t like what Ashley Ann said about Mandy at the football game, so I directly asked him about it.) Tribble chose his words carefully, but he didn’t like what he saw. “She’s not afraid to speak her mind…It was a pretty superficial thing to say.”
When Tribble kissed Mandy on the football field at Clemson he wasn’t trying to make the other girls jealous. “She asked if I wanted a good luck kiss, like for Clemson to win, so I was like ‘Uh, OK…’ If a girl puts herself out there like that, that’s impressive. It wasn’t a full on make-out session, though.” Tribble also thought the kiss sent an important message – that all the girls are there for a reason and have a chance, even if people might not think they seem like his type.
Speaking of Clemson, when I chatted with Tribble last week he told me that date was one of his favorite experiences from the whole show. It was obvious why – everyone loves him there! “Every time I go back to Clemson it’s awesome. The fans are so supportive and they love Clemson football. It was cool to be recognized and take pictures with the kids, and there were a bunch of fans there with signs and stuff…it was such an amazing experience.”
Tribble said it was also important for the girls to meet his Clemson family. “I wanted them to hear about my character and who I am from other people, not just from me.”
At the football game, Erin was a pretty big downer – and then Tribble sent her home that night. It wasn’t a coincidence.
“It’s not like you get a lot of time to see who a girl is. All the girls were having fun at the game and it was such a cool experience for me, so for her to be worried about how she was dressed or not looking the part…It said to me that this girl is going to be high maintenance, along with her diet, and she’s worrying about clothes when she’s at a football game. I can’t keep up with that.”
I also asked Tribble about Alex, who was sent home last week too. Was it because she’s only 19? “It wasn’t so much age as it was maturity,” Tribble said.
“She’s traveling with her modeling career and partying, I know how it is traveling all over and being wined and dined. I feel like I’m past that point in my life, not that I don’t like to have a good time and I like to travel, but I’m trying to settle down into a more serious career now. I’m sure she’s serious about her modeling career, but it would be hard to match my career with that lifestyle.”
Coming up next week, Tribble says we all have a really fun date to look forward to. He’s taking Miss OC-licious out!
“I took OC-licious to the biggest, most honky-tonk bar…She was dressed like a straight up diva, like a Jersey diva. It’s gonna be really fun to watch. She just takes over the bar.”
