Almost three years after breaking off his engagement with Lauren Bushnell, The Bachelor’s Ben Higgins has announced a new engagement. After spending some time in the weird waters of regular dating, Higgins just announced his engagement to his girlfriend, Jessica Clarke, and the pair couldn’t be happier about it.
Clarke broke the news first on her Instagram, writing, “I don’t remember everything you said, but I know that I said yes. I woke up in a dream today and I get to live in this dream every day from now on (eeeep).”
Higgins spoke with Entertainment Tonight about his proposal plan, saying he was “super nervous.” He proposed with both of their families nearby. “She's my best friend, my partner and I love her. I was nervous to kind of do this whole thing in front of her. I wasn't anxious, it's just a big moment!" He and Clarke have been together since the end of 2018, after he slid into her DMs to ask for a date — a classic millennial love story.
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The pair have a solid relationship, according to Higgins. "Our relationship is healthy. I'm a better version of myself, a more free version of myself than I've been in a while," he told Us Weekly.
When the couple went public with their relationship last year, it was Higgins’ first relationship in the public eye since the end of his engagement to Bachelor winner Bushnell. No word on this wedding date yet, but it’s safe to say it probably won’t be televised, unlike his previous high-profile relationship.
Higgins’ season of The Bachelor had some drama, with him telling both Bushnell and Jojo Fletcher he loved them. But he made it work for a while with Bushnell, even starring in a reality series, Ben and Lauren: Happily Ever After? That question mark proved prescient, and the two broke up in 2017.
The end of his and Bushnell’s relationship was hard on him, as he talked about on his Bachelor-focused podcast, Almost Famous, with Ashley Iaconetti. "When you really care about somebody and you really love somebody and that has to end...it hurts. It hurts bad.”
Luckily for Higgins, it looks like his new relationship is a new chapter for him. After his time on The Bachelor, he was briefly a contestant on The Bachelor Winter Games. He left abruptly, saying he was still not over his breakup with Bushnell. However, that didn’t end his involvement in the Bachelor franchise. He’s got his podcast with Iaconetti, and he’s also a host for The Bachelor Live On Stage Official Tour with former Bachelorette Becca Kufrin.
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