Ben Higgins and Jess Clarke can hear the bells! The newly engaged couple are already talking wedding planning, but have a slim window for when they can exchange vows.
“Everybody I’ve talked to in the Clarke family has made sure that I know that we have to do this during the [baseball] offseason,” the 31-year-old former Bachelor explained on his “Almost Famous” podcast with Ashley Iaconetti on Monday, March 30. “So there is a very select few months that baseball is not active, and so because of that we’re going to be getting married in those months.”
Clarke’s family concerns stem from her brother, who is a professional baseball player. While the MLB player’s offseason is typically from November to February, the coronavirus pandemic may push back the end date. (The MLB postponed the start of the season earlier hits month.)
“So like right now, the question is like, I don’t know when baseball season is going to be coming back and I don’t know the new calendar dates or the schedule,” Higgins explained, noting that the couple are waiting to “have a clearer idea of when we even could get married and what dates would be available.”
Us Weekly broke the news that the Bachelor: Winter Games alum proposed to Clarke, 24, in Tennessee on Saturday, March 28. Higgins revealed on Monday’s podcast that he planned to pop the question in Central Park in New York City, but had to change his plans amid the pandemic.
“We ended up in Franklin and I just thought, ‘Why not?’ And I would have been so stressed out if this landed three more months with this ring in my pocket!” he explained. “I started crying before we even got to the place where I was going to propose. I was so nervous and it was really emotional. So then she started crying, not knowing why I was crying! But then I told her why I loved her and asked her to marry me. She was so shocked!”
Higgins added that he’s know he wanted to marry Clarke “for a long time.” The pair started dating in 2018 after he messaged her via Instagram.
“There is so much weird heaviness and pain right now, this feels like an uplifting thing,” he explained. “As painful as this has all been, you can’t let it stop life. So for us to have something to be able to celebrate, it was the right thing at the right time. … I’m really happy.”
Higgins was previously engaged to Lauren Bushnell, whom he proposed to during the season 20 finale of The Bachelor. The twosome called it quits in May 2017. Bushnell, for her part, married country singer Chris Lane in October 2019.
