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Bachelor Ben Higgins’ Love for Two Women Leads to a ‘Brutal’ Finale

Prepare for the most dramatic ending ever!

Ben Higgins, the star of The Bachelor‘s 20th season, has admitted that he fell for two finalists while taping the ABC reality show. But sources reveal in the new issue of Us Weekly that the Denver resident, 26, told both women “I love you” before the final rose ceremony — a first in the franchise’s 14-year history. The woman he rejects in the end is “blindsided,” says a show source. “The finale is brutal.”

Related: PHOTOS: Celebrities Who Love The Bachelor!

(To avoid spoiling the outcome, Us is not revealing the finalists’ names. As of the February 8 episode, six women remained: sweet single mom Amanda Stanton; reserved virgin Becca Tilley; spunky real estate developer JoJo Fletcher; bubbly flight attendant Lauren Bushnell; guarded but sweet software sales rep Caila Quinn; and happy-go-lucky twin Emily Ferguson.)

Related: PHOTOS: The Bachelor After the Final Rose: Broken Engagements, Weddings, Babies, and More!

During the overnight fantasy suite dates in Ocho Rios, Jamaica, Higgins, says the source, made “spur of the moment” decisions to say “I love you” to two of the three remaining women. Both had professed their love to the 6-foot-4 former football player — and he reciprocated. “Ben was just following his heart,” creator Mike Fleiss told Us recently, “but it caused considerable drama.”

Indeed, after eliminating the third finalist, the software sales rep recognized the gravity of his predicament. “Ben definitely regretted saying ‘I love you’ to both women,” says the source. “He realized the inevitability of what was going to happen: needing to send one home in the end.”

Ben Higgins
Ben Higgins Marc Royce

During the heart-wrenching talk with the runner-up, an insider recounts, “Ben tells her that he truly does love her. He says those weren’t just words. That was the most important thing he had to do: Tell her that as much of a mistake as it had been to say ‘I love you,’ he did mean it.” His words were cold comfort to the jilted woman. “She was devastated,” continues the insider. “There were lots of tears.”

To learn more, pick up the new issue of Us Weekly, on stands now. 

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