There may be a hot new couple in Bachelor Nation! Fans are questioning whether Ariel Frenkel and Jeremy Simon are dating after he appeared in several of her recent TikTok videos.
Jeremy, 30, was one of the contestants on Jenn Tran’s season of The Bachelorette earlier this year, while Ariel, 30, dated Zach Shallcross on season 27 of The Bachelor in 2023. Both reality stars live in New York City and seem to be spending a lot of time together recently.
Fans first commented on the pair’s possible relationship when Ariel posted a TikTok on October 10 where she mouthed along to the viral sound, “They just need to put all the [dating] apps on one app and call it ‘What’s Left.’” The camera then panned across the table to where Jeremy was sitting.
“This makes sense,” one fan commented, while another wrote, “The way I gasped.” Someone else jumped in to say, “This is what we need,” and another commenter added, “Sooooooo here for this!!!!”
On October 25, Ariel posted a video documenting fellow Bachelor alum Jess Girod’s visit to New York City and Jeremy was in the background once again.
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After being dumped by Zach, 28, during fantasy suites week on The Bachelor, Ariel started dating a guy named Pat in summer 2023. However, by the beginning of 2024, they were already broken up. In February, Ariel responded to a fan who asked why she and Pat split. “I made him film a TikTok trend with me when we were first dating and it forever gave him the ick,” she revealed.
She also hinted at wanting to appear on Bachelor in Paradise by telling a commenter, “The beach sounds nice right about now.” However, Bachelor in Paradise took a year off in 2024 and will not return until next summer, so it’s unclear what Ariel’s relationship status will be at that point.
While things did not work out between Ariel and Zach on The Bachelor, she has maintained a friendly relationship with him due to her close friendship with Kaity Bigger, whom he got engaged to on the dating show. “Just because it didn’t work out doesn’t mean there can’t be maturity and normalcy a full year later,” said earlier this year. “I’ve seen how amazing he and Kaity are together and I’m happy they found each other.”
Gabi Elnicki, who was the runner-up on Zach’s season, shared a similar sentiment. “At the end of the day, Kaity is one of my best friends and we formed a friendship prior to really getting to know Zach,” she told fans. “I want nothing but the best for them, and I am super grateful we have both been able to move forward with our lives in a positive way. Holding onto resentment out of pride or jealousy isn’t healthy and I get so many questions asking how I am still friends with Kaity. We are mature adults and we care more about our friendship than what happened on a tv show. … To answer this specifically – I am totally fine seeing Zach.”
