former star from “The Bachelor” has opened up about how tense things were in his relationship before the end of their engagement. Ben Higgins and Lauren Bushnell (now Lane) seemed to find love during season 20 of the show.
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“The Bachelor” couple even got their own spinoff show after their season aired, and they frequently talked about getting married quickly. However, by the time filming ended, Higgins and Bushnell were ready to call it quits.
Now, Higgins has revealed how intense and difficult their dynamic with one another became heading into their breakup.
He shared that by the time they wrapped filming on their spinoff show, “We wouldn’t talk to each other. We hadn’t talked to each other really, truly, in weeks.”
Here’s what you need to know:
Ben Higgins Felt Filming The Couple’s Spinoff Show Became a ‘Grind’
Higgins shared new information about his time with Bushnell during the May 28 episode of the “Bachelor Happy Hour” podcast with Serena Pitt and Joe Amabile. As “The Bachelor” star reflected on that time of his life, he noted the cameras for the spinoff show filmed them for about two months. Filming started very quickly after their finale aired.
He shared that the house in Denver where they lived and filmed was very small. Higgins bought it shortly before joining the franchise, and it was just 700 square feet of space. It had one bedroom and one bathroom, and then they had a crew of 30 people in there filming.
In addition to the small house and new engagement, Higgins returned to his day-to-day job after filming “The Bachelor” too. Bushnell was still working as a flight attendant, too.
“The Bachelor” coupled filmed their spinoff show at night, and they would film separately during the day at times, too. The pair filmed each weekend, and Higgins noted, “It was a grind.”
Higgins revealed that during filming, former “Bachelor” host Chris Harrison flew to Denver, Colorado, where they lived. Harrison asked if they were interested in getting married and having it televised.
While the couple knew a “good paycheck” would be involved, Higgins admitted, “We had already been struggling for about a month. So we were in couples counseling.”
“We were really trying to make it work…we were butting heads.” It seems they were surprised by Harrison’s offer, but their relationship was already quite rocky. “We were kind of more work associates,” Higgins admitted.
An Offer of a Televised Wedding Pushed ‘The Bachelor’ Stars to Realize They Wouldn’t Make it Down the Aisle
When they met with Harrison about a potential televised wedding, Higgins revealed, “We weren’t really speaking to each other off camera because the cameras would leave at 9:00. We’d be exhausted.”
As the couple rode home after meeting with Harrison, they both realized, “I don’t think we’re going to get married.”
Higgins explained that the discussion and realization happened about a week before “The Bachelor” couple wrapped filming on their spinoff. “We kind of tried to make it work a little bit longer and then finally it was over,” he recalled.
“I would say if they filmed for two months, about a month and a half into it, we were kind of calling it,” he admitted.
He also shared that the day after filming ended, Higgins flew to Chicago, Illinois for a business meeting. While there, he and Bushnell had a phone conversation where they acknowledged the relationship was not going to work, and it wasn’t healthy for either of them.
Higgins remembered he was gone for a week, and he asked her to have her stuff out of the house by the time he returned. He admitted he felt he couldn’t see her in person.
Bushnell had her mom fly to Denver to help pack things up, and then both she and Higgins ended up in New York City a few days later. They had not spoken since splitting, and when Higgins saw her in New York City, he “Took off the opposite direction.”
“The Bachelor” stars did communicate a bit more after he returned to Denver, but they weren’t on great terms.
Both “Bachelor” stars have since moved on from their broken engagement. Bushnell married country singer Chris Lane in October 2019, People noted. They have two sons. Higgins married Jessica Clarke in November 2021.
