Single and ready to mingle! Ashley Iaconetti weighed in on Ben Higgins’ split from Lauren Bushnell on Thursday, July 13.
“He’s very single. He’s mostly home and hanging out with his guy friends,” Iaconetti, 29, told Entertainment Tonight at an event for fellow Bachelor veteran Sarah Herron’s non-profit organization, SheLift. “I think Ben needs a girl that’s, like, low maintenance — a natural, church-going, humble girl who’s, like, looking to go with him when he does his mission trips. And somebody who’s a very good conversationalist, for sure.”
The Bachelor alum, who cohosts the Ben and Ashley I: Almost Famous podcast with Higgins, 29, added in the interview published Tuesday July 18, that the business analyst needs a “sweet” girl who “gets along with everybody” really well. “He needs the ultimate girl,” she dished.
The two-time Bachelor in Paradise star also shared her reasoning behind Higgins’ split from Bushnell, 25. (The two got engaged on the season 20 Bachelor finale in May 2016 and called it quits one year later). “It was probably, like, the youth [that caused their breakup],” Iaconetti explained. “And they just needed to live separate lives for a little bit longer before committing, like, really taking marriage seriously.”
Higgins has used the podcast as a platform to open up about the breakup. “When you really care about somebody and you really love somebody and that has to end — for whatever reason, even for the reasons that either person can’t really explain, it’s just a feeling and you have to go your separate ways — it hurts. It hurts bad,” he disclosed in June.
Meanwhile, Bushnell has moved on with Devin Antin. “They’ve been dating for a while now,” a source told Us Weekly on July 13, adding that the former flight attendant has already met her new flame’s family. “She was at a Golden State game with his sisters.”
Bushnell recently opened up about finding love again following her high-profile breakup. “I’m not looking to force anything. I think I really, really wanted to settle down. I’m just taking the mindset that I’m going to take it day by day,” she told Us exclusively in June. “If something happens, great. If not, then that is how it’s supposed to be. I’m just trying to focus on myself and my blog, focus on my projects and friendships and family. If something comes from that, great. I’ll be so happy.”
The budding blogger added that she wants to take things slower in her next relationship, a luxury that she was not afforded while competing on the dating series. “Even if something does come, I really want to take things slow,” she shared. “Because obviously on the Bachelor, things don’t move slow.”