OK_Magazine_USA_Issue_23_June_5_2017

The question mark
that punctuated
the promise of
wedded bliss for
Ben Higgins and
Lauren Bushnell
in their post-
Bachelor reality
show — Ben & Lauren: Happily Ever
After? — turned out to be a bad omen
indeed. Two years after The Bachelor’s
20th season ended with software
salesman Ben, 29, asking former flight
attendant Lauren, 27, to spend
eternity with him, the troubled
couple have called it quits,
announcing their intention to
“remain friends with much love and
respect for one another.”
Their union seemed doomed from
the start — Ben’s public declaration
that he loved runner-up JoJo
Fletcher as well as Lauren was
“extremely diffcult,” Lauren said,
putting it lightly. But insiders say that
other issues had long been brewing.
The couple, who admitted to
seeking counseling six months into
their romance, “are complete
opposites,” says an insider. “Lauren
never really wanted a quiet life in
Denver with Ben. She’s fame-hungry
and hell-bent on getting a TV gig
doing red carpet interviews
or something she
thinks is glamorous.
L.A. is where she
needs to be right
now, and Ben
has no
intention of
leaving
Denver.” Adds
the source,
“Lauren found
Ben boring and
unambitious. She
wanted him to explore
more TV opportunities with her, but
he had no interest.”
Says another source, “Lauren didn’t
ever fully trust Ben. She was always
checking his phone to see who he
was texting and calling. She never got
past the fact that her fiancé had
publicly dated scads of other women.”
As Lauren herself lamented, “You
could say that’s what I signed up for,
but it’s still real life and it’s still hard.”
COMING TO TERMS
Lauren’s insecurity about Ben’s
Bachelor past was a constant
storyline on Happily Ever After?, and
by the end of the show’s only season,
Ben dramatically called off the
LOOKS LIKE THEY MADE IT
‘‘
wedding, while insisting, “I’m
LAUREN NEVER REALLY
WANTED A QUIET LIFE IN
DENVER WITH BEN — AND
SHE NEVER GOT PAST THE
FACT THAT HE’D DATED
WOMEN ON TV.”
wedding, while insisting, “I’m
not leaving you. Don’t
think that for a
second.” Six months
later, just after the
breakup, Ben
admitted on a
podcast that “the
joy we felt toward
our relationship at
the beginning was,
for some reason,
slipping away. And we
were both working very
hard to get that joy back, and
it just never seemed to get there.”
After so many months of posting
cuddly Instagrams in an effort to
dispel breakup rumors — including
captions such as “We ain’t perfect but
we tryin’ ” and one insisting that
there’s “no need to respond to [...]
fake news” — Ben seemed relieved to
finally admit that the split was “a long
time coming.” He added, “It’s hard to
say goodbye to somebody that you
spent so much time with and [who]
you really did believe was The One
for you.” As for his current feelings
for his ex? “Lauren will always be one
of my best friends,” Ben promised.
Only time — and future reality
shows? — will tell!
OK!
HERE, A FEW OF THE BACHELOR FRANCHISE
COUPLES THAT ARE STILL HANGING ON
JADE ROPER &
TANNER TOLBERT
After each was dumped in
their respective Bachelor/
Bachelorette seasons,
they found love on spin-off
Bachelor in Paradise — and
are expecting a baby!
JORDAN RODGERS
& JOJO FLETCHER
Ben blew his chance to pick
JoJo... who just celebrated
her one-year engagement
anniversary with (frankly)
the much hunkier
Jordan. Ben who?
SHAWN BOOTH &
KAITLYN BRISTOWE
Couples who work out
together, stay together — as
proved by the case of these
gym rats, who planned
for the future by freezing
Kaitlyn’s eggs.
CATHERINE GIUDICI
& SEAN LOWE
After welcoming son
Samuel last year, the Dallas
residents have become such
nesters, they’re working
together to create their own
cozy furniture line!
OK! OKMAGAZINE.COM 47