There have been many leads on The Bachelor, but none have fit the mold quite like Ben Higgins. He was the Bachelor for season 20 and many see him as the quintessential lead. Fans love Ben, but he’s also notorious in the franchise for being the first Bachelor to say “I love you” to two of his contestants. It’s been many years since the major faux pas, and Ben has had time to reflect on one of his biggest regrets as Bachelor. Ben may be happily engaged now, but he’ll forever been known for his double declarations of love.
Ben’s season had an incredible cast of women, but in the end it all came down to JoJo Fletcher and Lauren Bushnell. On some of their last dates of the season, both women said they were in love with Ben and he, shockingly, returned the sentiment to both of them. In the finale, Ben proposed to Lauren, and though the couple seemed happy, Ben’s mistake would plague them throughout their relationship. The pair eventually broke up but are now on good terms since both are engaged to individuals from outside Bachelor Nation.
The former Bachelor recently addressed his misstep with Us Weekly and got candid about why he said “I love you” to two different women. “I just wish I would have communicated it,” Ben said. “Maybe if you phrase a question like that: ‘Do I regret saying it?’ Yes. But it felt at the time like the right thing to do. It was validating.” Looking back at it, Ben realizes that it would have been “wiser” to have kept his mouth shut. “Now it feels like it was manipulating as well, because it just made me feel a little bit better about making sure they both knew where I was at.”
Upon further reflection, Ben sees how what he said to his two finalists contributed to his unhealthy relationship with Lauren. It must have been hard for her to re-watch the season and see the feelings she thought Ben only had for her were also shared with another woman. The mistake had a corrosive effect on the fledgling relationship and it’s not surprising that the couple called off their engagement. It was an important lesson for future show leads, as a reminder that what they say to contestants can and will be seen by their final man or woman.
Though the incident was dramatic when it was shown on The Bachelor all those years ago, Ben, Lauren, and JoJo have all moved past it. JoJo and Ben are engaged and Lauren is married, so it’s an all’s-well-that-ends-well situation. After much time, Ben seems to have grown from his mistake, but his double “I love you"s have served as a cautionary tale for all the leads to follow. Everything turned out all right in the end, and it bodes well for Ben’s current relationship that he has learned from his mistakes.
Source: US Weekly