Ben Higgins thinks he found The One. The former Bachelor has big plans for his future with his girlfriend, Jess Clarke.
“I don’t think I’d be dating anybody if I didn’t see it being a part of the future. So at this point I’m 30, I’m ready, I’m excited about it,” Higgins gushed exclusively to Us Weekly. “So there would be no reason for me to date anybody if it wasn’t something I believe was the real thing.”
Higgins and Clarke, 24, made their relationship Instagram official in February, admitting he slid into her DMs a few months earlier. While the twosome are still long-distance for now, Higgins and Clarke have a timeline set.
“Jess is really wise, and so she wants to make sure that we’re taking the right steps the right time. So before she’d really moved to Denver, we need to be engaged,” he told Us. “And I think that’s smart. I think that’s wise. And so those are steps that we’re talking about and figuring out how we can best do that.”
For now, Higgins and Clarke FaceTime and “talk on the phone at least twice a day” to maintain their long-distance relationship.
“Long-distance has its benefits because it forces us to be intentional with our time,” he explained. “And it has its huge issues ‘cause I just don’t get to see her enough, but we’re doing awesome … things are so good.”
Higgins is also set to embark on a new journey with The Bachelor. While he isn’t looking for love this time, he’s hosting The Bachelor Live On Stage Official Tour, which kicks off in February 2020.
“We’re gonna pick one Bachelor in each of the 65 cities and then 10 women. And he is lucky enough to be able to date these 10 women on stage in front of a live audience,” Higgins explained to Us. “They’ll have one-on-ones, they’ll have group dates, they’ll have fantasy suites. We can’t predict what’s going to happen, but there’s going to be romance, there’s going to be tears, there’s going to be probably some feuds and drama. But ultimately at the end of it, we’re trying to recreate this experience that you watch on television in an evening, that’s going to be action packed, fun and exciting.”
With reporting by Kayley Stumpe
