Clapping back for the right reasons! Ben Higgins defended his girlfriend, Jess Clarke, after a social media troll criticized her age.
“‘Come on @jessclarke_ let’s run got a wedding to get to!’ That sure was something else… #whenjaredmetashley,” the 30-year-old Bachelor alum wrote alongside a boomerang of the couple at Jared Haibon and Ashley Iaconetti’s Rhode Island nuptials on Monday, August 12, via Instagram.
“She legit looks like she’s in high school,” a social media user wrote in the comments section, referring to the 24-year-old.
Higgins fired back, writing that Clarke looks “like a beautifully spry, youthfully joy-filled, and optimistically wise 24 year old.”
“But that’s just me,” he added. “And I think she [is] smoking hot.”
Higgins and Clarke made their relationship Instagram official in February.
“I successfully slid into her Dm’s a few months ago,” he captioned a photo of the pair at the time. “I took a risk and I am glad I did. She is someone special, and I look forward to where life is going to take us. Stay tuned for the journey.”
More recently, the reality TV personality expressed his love for Clarke on Monday’s episode of his “Almost Famous” podcast, revealing the duo had an emotional exchange at Haibon and Iaconetti’s wedding over the weekend.
“Here’s where it hit me. I don’t know if I looked over and said it to her, but I was pretty emotional right away when it came to the wedding. Ashley walked down and Jared saw her … and it hit me that this is the moment she has been waiting for and this is a miracle coming true,” Higgins explained. “I started crying, I started crying pretty good and Jess looked up at me and she took my hand and just squeezed it and just sat and looked forward. … This is a girl that loves me. This girl loves me. She’s in it with me no matter thick and thin so that was sweet.”
