Ashley Salter and Austin Brannen with baby Brooks. / @absalt
Ashley Salter and Austin Brannen with baby Brooks. / @absalt

One of the most intriguing ladies from Chris Soules’ season of The Bachelor is a new mom!  Fan-favorite contestant Ashley Salter (aka Ashley S.) and her fiancé, Austin Brannen, welcomed their first child into the world on April 7th; a son named Brooks Hartman Brannen.

Salter made the announcement on her Instagram page, writing: “Long stormy night brings a beautiful angel this morning. Brooks Hartman Brannen 7lbs 2oz 4/7/16”

Ashley made quite impression during her tenure on The Bachelor and then Bachelor in Paradise; her kooky antics led to her earning the description of “off her rocker.”  Famous for mistaking a pomegranate for an onion, Bachelor host Chris Harrison once described her as “one of my favorite women to have ever been on this show.”

The new parents have known each other for quite some time; they were college sweethearts when they attended Auburn University and rekindled the romance after her role on Bachelor in Paradise.  Salter and Brannen became engaged in 2015, and announced they were expecting at Jade Roper and Tanner Tolbert’s wedding in February. A beaming Salter told Harrison, “This happened fast.” during The Bachelor at 20: A Celebration of Love.