Love Is Blind's Ashley Clarifies Timeline of Learning About Tyler's Kids and Why He Doesn't Have a 'Connection' with Them Now

Warning: this post contains spoilers from Love Is Blind season 7.

Love Is Blind’s Ashley Adionser is clarifying details surrounding her now-husband Tyler Francis’ three biological children.

During an appearance on Nick Viall’s podcast, The Viall Files, on Nov. 6, Ashley opened up about finding out Tyler had kids and how she reacted to the surprising news. She explained that one night when they were not filming, he revealed there was something he had been keeping from her.

“[He said,] ‘It’s also something that if you did find out would be difficult potentially to deal with,’” Ashley recalled. “‘It's something you would have to learn to accept.’”

“I'm like, ‘What? You got some kids or something?’” she continued of their conversation. “He doesn't laugh. No. He doesn't laugh. And my heart sank to the ground.”

At first, she said Tyler was vague about the situation, simply saying he was a sperm donor for a lesbian couple.

“He was afraid to tell me because he didn't wanna lose me,” Ashley said. “And I was like, ‘That's robbery. You robbed me of my choice.’ Because in the pods, like, all factors are at play. You know? And I was so caught off guard.”

The two talked for five hours, Ashley recalled, saying she was in so much shock that she barely asked any questions. Initially, she said her priority was finding out if Tyler was a liar at his core. 

“I asked him, ‘If I were to sit down with your ex right now or flings or people you dated, what would they say about you?’” she explained. “Because for two reasons: one, I wanna see if I can see remnants of that behavior and begin to look for it — not that I'm searching for it, but just to begin to pay attention. And two, I wanna see how you're gonna answer because it's a red flag when men blame everything on a woman.”

“So for me, it was refreshing for him to say, like, ‘Yeah, they probably would say I wasn't the best,’” she added. “And he's been vocal about that. Like, ‘I wasn't the best at dating at all.’ You know? And so for me, that wasn't a red flag.”

Ashley then dug into Tyler’s relationship with the children — one of whom he provided sperm for when his friend was married, and twins who were born after his friend's wife left. Ashley explained that Tyler grew up without a father, so when his friend, who he met in the army, became a single mom, he decided to step in as the other parent, rather than the “uncle” figure he had been playing before.

“They knew him as their bio dad,” Ashley said. “And it's very taboo and very odd to think about, but I don't think there's any rule book to how adoption, sperm donor or egg donation should go. I do think that it was a mistake on his behalf to blur those lines so heavily because of the kids. Not even just the woman, but the kids. And I know she wanted him to mainly be a part for the boy.”

Once she learned how Tyler came into role of a father, Ashley said it was easier for her to understand why he had kept it a secret in the pods. Calling it “a blip” in their relationship, she said his confession did not make her lose trust, it just “tainted” her trust at the time.

“What he did for his friend is a noble thing,” she said. “It was a great thing. And then for him to also enter into this family when when her partner left, another noble thing. But should he have done it? You could argue maybe not. His reasoning for doing [it] is because he wanted to do the right thing, and it almost completely blew up in his face.”

A couple years before he went on Love Is Blind, Ashley shared that Tyler and the kids’ mother had a conversation about his role in their lives going forward. According to Ashley, whenever the mother was in a new relationship, she would allegedly want Tyler less involved so he decided it was not his position to parent the kids.

“He started slowing down and coming around [less] and basically said something along the lines of, ‘You know, I just don't have a connection with these kids,’” Ashley explained. “And she's hurt because she's like, ‘Well, why? Why don't you? Because they're still kind of your kids. Why don't you have a connection?’ He's like, ‘You know, this is your family, and this isn’t what I originally signed up for. I know I stepped in to try to help. I know I said I'd be there for the twins.’”

“Biologically, these are still his kids, so he feels a certain way, but he's like, ‘I can't do this,’” she continued. “She was disappointed, and I can see why she was disappointed as well. But he's like, ‘I just don't wanna have any connection with you or them because if I talk to you, although you've been my long-term friend, there's no way I wouldn't be able to not talk to the kids. And I think it's best if I remove myself.’”

Tyler and Ashley said "I do" in the season 7 finale before opening up about his sperm donor situation during the reunion. For his part, Tyler insisted he was always upfront with Ashley and only lied on camera to protect his children.

"Those kids, that family, they did not sign up for this," he said. "I played a part that became very shaky with a friend. There's no rule book to this... but I do want to let people know Ashley knows all this."

"I don't owe anyone an explanation but my wife," he added.

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Love Is Blind season 7 is now streaming in full on Netflix.