Ashley Caldwell

Ashley Caldwell Weston is a fictional character in the fantasy soap opera The Good and the Gracious. She made her first apperance on November 14, 2008. She is played by model and Survivor contestant, Ashley Underwood. Ashley is the half-brother of Jason Caldwell and the defiant daughter of Tony Caldwell. Her storylines have revovled around her relationships with Nick Little and husband Franke Weston.

Casting
During the 2008 year, casting held five large open-call auditions for new roles on The Good and the Gracious. One of the characters was suppose to be the rebelious, teenage sister of Jason Caldwell and daughter of Tony Caldwell, who had recently gone to prison. "Ashley" was the name given to the character. In April 2008, casting chose model and soon to be star of Survivor, Ashley Underwood. Underwood began filming her storylines in July 2008 and her first apperance onscreen was on November 14. In 2010, Underwood decided to vacate the role and her character moved to London for fashion ideas. In July 2011, Underwood returned to the role after competing on Survivor. During her first stint as the role, she stayed on a recurring basis, however, when she returned, she was put on a contract after six months back.

Storylines
In November 2008, Ashley came to town after her brother, Jason Caldwell (Max Martini), asked her to come because she was being rebellious to her mother. She had a very brief relationship with Franke Weston (Kellan Lutz). Jason asks his brother, Chase Vincent (Chase Rice), to give Ashley a job at his coffee house, to which he graciously agrees. In February 2009, Ashley begins dating Howie Giovanni (Chad Duell), much to the disapproval of his mother, Christine Weston (Krista Allen). They both bond over the parent's controlling and crazy behavior. In May 2009, following a heated argument at the Athletic Club, Ashley punches her school rival, Madison Weston (Kimberly Caldwell), which made Ashley public enemy number one of the Weston family. Madison later pressed charges, but because of Madison's awful behavior and immaturity, the judge ruled in Ashley's favor, causing more tension between Ashley and Madison. In March 2010, after Chase was sentenced to life in prison, Ashley and Howie fled to Paris. In Paris, Howie began flirting with other girls, making Ashley jealous. In May 2010, when Christine and Jason finally arrived, they found Howie, who said that Ashley had already left and they broke up. Ashley then texted Jason and told him she was safe in London and was trying to further her fashion career.

In July 2011, Ashley returned to Grove City after Holly Weston (Malin Akerman) wanted her to return to try and get her son, Franke, to stop dating Erika Breslin (Erika Landin). Holly's plan did not work as Franke stayed with Erika. Ashley then began dating Nick Little (Blake Hood) and they both became the wild, party kids of the town along with Brielle Weston (Emily Osment) and Tara Patrick (Kelli Goss). Brielle became jealous of Ashley because she wanted Nick for herself. Brielle then began having parties and not inviting Ashley, trying to get Nick alone so she could make her move on him. Ashley was naive and felt that Brielle had simply forgotten to invite her, however, Ryan Caldwell (Dylan Patton) later told Ashley that Brielle was intentionally not inviting her. Ashley retaliated by humiliating Brielle in front of the whole school. When Nick found out about what Ashley did, he broke up with her, but did not go with Brielle either as he also learned what she had done. Ashley and Brielle later reconciled and became best friends, angering Tara. In September 2012, Ashley, Brielle, Tara, Nick, Ryan, and Franke became the hot item seniors at Grove City High School. They also became the new teen fashion models for Gracious Style Magazine. In November 2012, after two months of being the rude, mean, popular kids in school, Preston Davis, Jen Hall, and Maddie Wilson (their fellow students) hacked into the Gracious Style Magazine and wrote a rude but truthful story about the popular kids of GC High. They also posted a picture of Brielle and Nick having sex. Ashley became infuriated by this and disowned Brielle. Meanwhile, Franke comforted Ashley through her tough time and they began a relationship. In January 2013, Preston, Jen, and Maddie were exposed, they were fined, and Ashley and Brielle reconciled.

In April 2013, after a long day at school, Brielle and Nick along with Ashley and Franke had sex. This later led to both Brielle and Ashley giving birth. At Brielle's parent's re-marriage, both Brielle and Ashley announced they were pregnant angering most of the Weston family. Chase was very happy for Ashley, but Jason and April Ryan (Lauri Peterson) were very unhappy about it, however later got over it. In September 2013, in order to be married before the baby arrived, Franke and Ashley got married. However, during the ceremony, Brielle's water broke, and she was taken to the hospital to give birth to Amanda Jacqueline Little. In October 2013, Ashley gave birth to Carter Renee Weston. In December 2013, Ashley became the lead designer on the Little Beauty fashion line, angering Amanda Brooks (Amanda Kimmel) and Savannah Quinn (Parvati Shallow). In Feburary 2014, Ashley found out that Franke had cheated on her with Tara. Ashley quickly divorced him and tried to get full custody of their son. However, Franke and his family would not let that happen and they now have joint custody of Carter.