Time flies when you’re in love! The Bachelorette’s Kaitlyn Bristowe and rose winner Shawn Booth celebrated the two-year anniversary of their proposal with a series of adorable Instagram posts, calling it the “longest engagement ever.”
Given that they met on a reality TV show, it’s likely that Kaitlyn and Shawn are treating their engagement as the first years of courtship. This is a smart decision because objectively speaking, The Bachelor and The Bachelorette couples don’t have a strong track record of wedded ecstasy.
Season 17 winner (who’s still married to her Bachelor, Sean) Catherine Giudici Lowe makes this point even more salient when she broke it down for us in a recent R29 interview, saying, “you have 10 weeks together, which is probably equivalent of, like, three dates”. It’s difficult enough to get a true grasp on someone’s complexities in three dates in the real world, let alone on a TV show where it ends in a full-on proposal.
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In her Instagram post, Kaitlyn talks about feeling not feeling “pressured” and that they’ve taken their time. And she mentions that they still don’t have a date set, giving the happy couple all the time in the world to focus on simply being in love.
Fortunately for Kaitlyn and Shawn, even though it may feel long, a two-year engagement isn’t unusual these days, according to a 2009 study in the UK. It found that the average engagement period is actually around two years. The Knot, in 2015, found a shorter engagement among their users, at 14.5 months. And there is data to suggest that dating for at least three years for getting married cuts the chances of divorce down by 39%.
Luckily we’ve got the next season of spin-off Bachelor in Paradise returning this August, with some of our favorite (and most notorious) cast members returning for a chance to mingle with each other, free of roses and expectations. Who knows what drama will ensue?
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