Bachelor Nation alum Ashley Iaconetti<\/strong><\/a> truly felt like she was living on another planet when she joined the cast of Stars on Mars<\/em><\/a> following the first five celebrity eliminations \u2014 for more reasons than one.<\/p>\n \u201cI did love the fact that I was asked to go halfway through because that meant that I had less time away from [my 17-month-old son], Dawson.<\/a> [It] would\u2019ve been over three weeks if I had done the entire time. So I was grateful to be a late entrance from a personal life perspective,\u201d Iaconetti, 35, exclusively told Us Weekly<\/em> on Monday, July 17, referring to her child with husband Jared Haibon<\/strong><\/a>. \u201cBut, I was awkward coming in late as well because everybody was truly cliquey and bonded.\u201d<\/p>\n Iaconetti first appeared during the July 10 episode with comedian Andy Richter<\/strong>, NBA star Paul Pierce<\/strong> and celebrity chef Cat Cora<\/em>. They joined former cyclist pro Lance Armstrong<\/strong><\/a>, Modern Family<\/em> alum Ariel Winter<\/strong><\/a>, NFL\u2019s Marshawn Lynch<\/strong><\/a>, Olympic figure skater Adam Rippon<\/strong><\/a>, fighter Ronda Rousey<\/strong><\/a>, singer Tinashe<\/strong> and Real Housewives of Atlanta<\/em> alum Porsha Williams.<\/strong><\/a> (The celebrities are competing for the title of Brightest Star in the Galaxy as they live in the same space station and complete missions.)<\/p>\n \u201cEverybody felt like they\u2019re the top of their craft, you know? They\u2019re super confident, they don\u2019t need to make friends. But on The Bachelor<\/em>, when we first walk into the Bachelor Mansion or in Paradise<\/em>, we\u2019re all like, \u2018We\u2019re here to make connections and communicate!\u2019\u201d Iaconetti told Us<\/em>. \u201cAnd it was not, like, the top priority to be like, \u2018Hey Ashley, what\u2019s your favorite food? What do you like to do? What\u2019s your favorite movie?\u2019 It wasn\u2019t like that.\u201d<\/p>\n The four additions to the show were also met with tension on the Red Planet as Armstrong threatened to quit the series following a debate with Winter over whether transgender athletes should compete in their own sports category.<\/p>\n \u201cI didn\u2019t see the actual initial argument,\u201d Iaconetti told Us<\/em>. \u201cBut Lance did say, like, when we first entered, \u2018You\u2019re walking into a weird time.\u2019 But I didn\u2019t have anything to compare it to.\u201d<\/p>\n Things escalated with Armstrong and Winter as the group argued over who should lead the group\u2019s mission.<\/p>\n \u201cThen, the whole continuation where there was the argument of who\u2019s gonna be base commander \u2014 I was just, like, \u2018Wow, these people take base commander real seriously.\u2019 Like, they\u2019ve been entrenched in this environment for a week now,\u201d Iaconetti told Us<\/em> with a laugh, comparing the situation to how quickly contestants think they are falling for the Bachelor or Bachelorette. \u201cIt\u2019s, like, all of a sudden a couple days in and you\u2019re like, \u2018I must find my spouse amongst this group of people. These are gonna be my friends for life and if I don\u2019t marry one of them, I will die alone.\u2019 [On Stars on Mars<\/em>], they\u2019re like, \u2018We are on Mars and somebody must be base commander!\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n In the end, Winter got her shot at being base commander for a task that involved the group covering various holes so they wouldn\u2019t \u201cdie from loss of oxygen.\u201d And despite Armstrong and Lynch complaining about the actress\u2019 tactics \u2014 which included distracting the cast with random questions \u2014 the athletes were safe from elimination. Iaconetti, however, was sent home as the group deemed her part of the task not as difficult.<\/p>\n Iaconetti admitted to Us<\/em> that she is \u201ctorn\u201d about her quick exit.<\/p>\n \u201cI should have been part of, like, one more mission \u2014 put the suit on, really see if I could do, like, more spacey things then put my finger in a hole,\u201d she joked. \u201cBut then at the same time, I got to go home to Dawson and I got to eat regular food.\u201d<\/p>\n While she concluded she was \u201cfine\u201d with the situation, Iaconetti acknowledged that she got \u201cemotional\u201d being eliminated from a show \u2014 something she hadn\u2019t really experienced.<\/p>\n \u201cI had never been eliminated from Bachelor<\/em>. \u2026 I was left in the Badlands [on Chris Soules<\/strong><\/a>\u2019 season], but I never stood at a rose ceremony and got eliminated out of all the four shows that I did,\u201d she said. \u201cI never got eliminated in the traditional sense. So standing there being like, \u2018You\u2019re the one we want to leave,\u2019 made me just [sad].\u201d<\/p>\n![\"Ashley](\"https:\/\/www.usmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Ashley-Iaconetti-Talks-Joining-Stars-on-Mars-Amid-Lance-Armstrong-Ariel-Winter-Drama-267.jpg?w=700&quality=86&strip=all\")
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\n Ashley Iaconetti.<\/span> Brook Rushton\/FOX<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n