Southern Charm's Ashley Jacobs Opens Up About Life with Ex Thomas Ravenel: 'It Was Dark'

Southern Charm‘s Ashley Jacobs is sharing new details about her time with Thomas Ravenel.

In a new interview with Entertainment Tonight published on Wednesday, Jacobs, 34, opened up about meeting Ravenel — and what led to their split a year later.

When they met in spring 2017, Jacobs told ET, she was looking for a change.

“I went back a few times to [Charleston, South Carolina to] visit him and I thought, could I make this work?” she explained. “This is a great town, I’m a registered nurse. I can work wherever I want … I know someone who has an in, not into the reality TV show, but has an in into a town where I can kind of sit back and let him take me around, and show me the best places to live, the best places to eat. And, I like this person.”

Jacobs then joined the cast of Southern Charm last season as Ravenel’s girlfriend and stirred up some major drama, openly feuding with Kathryn Dennis, Ravenel’s ex and the mother of his two kids.

“It was dark, and it was really lonely and, yeah, I was really lonely,” Ashley shared. “I lost a lot of weight. I wasn’t taking care of myself mentally … I suffered from depression, situational depression.”

“I didn’t have the support of my family,” she continued. “They were very disappointed in my decision, and so the only person I had was Thomas. He was my support system, we were really in the trenches together … I stayed by his side because I needed his support, because I wasn’t getting support from anyone else, not even my family.”

In September, Ravenel was arrested and charged with assault and battery in the second degree after a former nanny accused him of rape. After the arrest, it was announced that Ravenel would not return to Southern Charm. He has denied all charges. Ravenel is also currently in the middle of a custody battle with Dennis over their two young children.

“I mean, if you’re dating someone and there’s allegations [against them], you can imagine just that in itself [takes a toll],” Jacobs told ET. “It concerned everyone that was close to me.”

RELATED: Former Southern Charm Star Landon Clements Supports Ashley Jacobs After Her Explosive Return

“That was really difficult,” she added. “That’s not normal. Then you add custody, and then you’re adding children, you’re adding the show, and two people in a relationship just trying, you know? We were still trying to figure it out. It wasn’t meant to be.”

“It left such a bad taste in my mouth, really,” Jacobs said of living in Charleston. “There’s some trauma related to it. As much as I look back at pictures and I think, what a beautiful place, I still can’t help but feel [like] that really sad, lonely, depressed person.”

“I don’t ever wanna go back to that place,” she added. “Like I said, it was the worst year of my life. I don’t think I could make it any better. I tried. It didn’t work.”

RELATED: Ashley Jacobs Returns to Southern Charm, Calls Dating Thomas Ravenel ‘the Worst Year of My Life’

Jacobs returned to Southern Charm earlier this month, calling her time dating Ravenel the “worst year of my life.”

Her return was an unexpected development, considering she’d told fans in November she wouldn’t be coming back to the show.

Before that, she told PEOPLE she wanted a second chance to let viewers see a different side to her since she apologized publicly to Dennis.

“I wish they had the decency to contact me and give me a chance. Because I would like to have a redemption story, the same way Kathryn [Dennis] did,” Jacobs said. “I’m not going to fight and I’m not going to play dirty. I’m going to smile and be nice. I never had the chance to do that on the show because I was so wrapped up in Thomas’ drama. I was the villain, but people tuned in to watch. I’d like to give viewers the chance to see another side of me.”

Southern Charm airs Wednesdays (9 p.m. ET) on Bravo.