Simone Ashley may have a new romance in her life after spending much of the past year saying she wanted to take her time before entering another relationship.
The 31-year-old Bridgerton star was photographed holding hands with Jay Jammal during an August 23 outing in London’s Notting Hill neighborhood. Just Jared identified Jammal as a senior account executive at Soho Communications, while neither he nor Ashley has publicly defined their relationship.
The outing looked considerably more casual than a red-carpet debut. Ashley wore a short yellow dress and patterned blue bandana while she and Jammal walked dogs through the neighborhood, and photographs showed the two smiling and holding hands.
It is the first time Ashley and Jammal have been publicly photographed together. The sighting comes almost a year after Ashley was seen kissing businessman Tim Sykes at the 2025 U.S. Open, another connection she never publicly labeled, and more than a year after she declared herself in her “single era.”
Ashley and Jammal Held Hands During a Notting Hill Dog Walk
The new photographs show Ashley and Jammal walking side by side through Notting Hill on Sunday afternoon before joining hands. PEOPLE described the outing as their first public sighting together. Both were walking dogs, with Ashley carrying a white handbag while Jammal wore jeans, a dark T-shirt and a baseball cap.
Jay Jammal Works in Luxury and Hospitality Communications
Unlike Ashley, Jammal does not work in the entertainment industry. He is a senior account executive at London-based Soho Communications, where his work focuses primarily on luxury and hospitality.
According to his professional biography cited by Just Jared, Jammal moved to London from Denver in September 2023 after graduating from the University of Colorado Boulder with a bachelor’s degree in strategic communications.
His client work has included Rocco Forte Hotels, Fairmont Monte Carlo, Mastcraft Group, jewelry brand Kiki McDonough, the Big Give charity platform and Sabine Rooftop. Before joining Soho Communications, his professional experience included work involving Reed Recruitment, the National Trust and Dentakay.
Ashley Previously Said She Was ‘Not in a Rush’ to Leave Her Single Era
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Ashley was unusually deliberate about how she wanted to approach relationships after splitting from Constantin “Tino” Klein. During a February 2025 appearance on BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour, Ashley acknowledged the irony of promoting the romantic comedy Picture This while newly single.
“As of January this year, I’ve been entering my single era,” she said. Ashley explained that she was concentrating on herself, her work and rebuilding her “inner confidence,” describing it as a markedly different chapter from the period when Bridgerton dramatically changed her life.
She expanded on that outlook in a March 2025 interview with PEOPLE. “I’m not in a rush,” Ashley said, explaining that she did not want to immediately jump into another relationship simply because she was single. “I want to take my time to find the right person for me and to work on myself, to grow, and to focus on my work,” she said.
She Was Photographed Kissing Tim Sykes at Last Year’s U.S. Open
On September 1, 2025, she was photographed at the U.S. Open in New York with businessman Tim Sykes, a managing partner at hospitality company Wish You Were Here Group. The two were seen holding hands and kissing while watching Jannik Sinner play Alexander Bublik at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
PEOPLE reported on the affectionate outing, which came several weeks after Ashley had also fueled speculation by being photographed walking with actor Joshua Jackson in New York.
Her Last Publicly Confirmed Relationship Was With Tino Klein
Ashley’s relationship with Klein was much more clearly established. The two met at the Monaco Grand Prix in May 2022 and were photographed together soon afterward. Ashley made their romance Instagram official in March 2023, after they had already made a public appearance together at a Netflix BAFTA after-party.
They remained together for roughly two years before Ashley revealed in February 2025 that she had entered her “single era” beginning that January. In the months after their split, Ashley repeatedly framed being single as something she wanted to use rather than escape.