Making a decision early. Ben Higgins and fiancee Jessica Clarke had a conversation about intimacy in the very beginning of their relationship, the couple revealed exclusively to Us Weekly in a new interview.
“Based on my past, we talked about it early, especially doing [long] distance. But it wasn’t a hard conversation or a weird one,” Clarke, 24, told Us. “I think as we got more serious, it became a bigger conversation.”
The former Bachelor, 31, added that the conversation happened “within the first two weeks” of the couple’s relationship. The pair, who got engaged in March, began dating in November 2018.
“It’s just something that we both felt comfortable talking to each other about. I forget the exact scenario that it came up,” the Bachelor Live On Stage cohost added. “We didn’t know at that point — who knew where it was going, but like, you know, [I said], ‘Let’s just make this commitment now.’ We had talked about it and agreed to it. Oftentimes that we bring it up. Like, we still have the desires and we still have the emotions and the physical desires to love each other.”
Higgins revealed that he and his fiancée were waiting until marriage during an episode of Nick Viall‘s “Viall Files” podcast on April 22. During the interview, he also noted that the couple have been staying with Clarke’s parents amid the coronavirus quarantine, so “the logistics” have also prevented that. Naturally, Clarke’s father heard the interview.
“I think it was her dad that brought it up that said that some guy at work came up to him and mentioned the headline and I was like, ‘Oh, I’m so sorry!’ And then her Dad felt bad about bringing it up, thinking he made it awkward, which was really nice and sweet of him,” the Bachelorette alum told Us. “But it just opened us up to talk about it, which was actually great. … Typically you aren’t reading headlines about your daughter or your son and their sex life. But we are in a unique scenario where people are watching, wondering, waiting and asking. I think we have a responsibility to respond accordingly with truth. And that’s just our truth.”
The Bachelor Winter Games alum also noted that he’s not trying to tell others what to do in their own relationships.
“We’re not saying that this is the perfect thing for everybody. Like, if somebody is out there and not choosing to make this decision, that’s their decision,” he shared. “This is us and this is our relationship and it’s an exciting thing to be able to say and do and make that decision as a couple. And it’s been good for us. It’s something that we think has been healthy, and that’s why we stuck with it!”
With reporting by Kayley Stumpe
