Ben Higgins and his fiancée, Jessica Clarke, are officially homeowners. However, it looks like it’ll be a while before the reality star leaves his bachelor pad.
Clarke, 24, shared the exciting news about buying a house in Colorado with Higgins via Instagram on Tuesday, December 22. She revealed that she started moving her things into their new place last week, but Higgins, 31, is still living elsewhere until the two are married.
“Last week I started the moving process to Colorado and into our FIRST HOME!” Clarke captioned her Instagram post, which showed herself and the Bachelor alum sitting in front of a fireplace. “The house is empty, but it’s ours! I’ll be living in it and making it into our little home until Ben joins me after the wedding. I can’t wait to share all of the little projects.”
The couple met and started dating in 2018 and got engaged in March 2020. They’ve been open about their decision to take things slow during their relationship, with Clarke telling Us Weekly in April that she and Higgins decided early on not to have sex.
“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 told Us. “I think as we got more serious, it became a bigger conversation.”
Higgins elaborated on the decision to abstain from sex during an episode of Nick Viall‘s “Viall Files” podcast in April. He noted in his interview that he and Clarke stayed with her parents in Tennessee amid the coronavirus quarantine, adding that “the logistics” held them to their decision.
“Right now she has a bedroom upstairs at her parents’ house, I’m in the downstairs,” Higgins told Viall, adding that the arrangement was about “a respect level.”
He also suggested he’s in it for the long haul, noting that they may not be married anytime soon, telling Viall, “I have a feeling it’s gonna be a longer engagement and here’s why.”
“We don’t know what this virus is going to affect. It could be here another two months, two and a half months, at that point, weddings are going to be pushed back, venues are going to be booked, and I don’t want to add stress to a really fun and joyful time knowing that this is the real deal.”
Later that same month, Higgins defended his and Clarke’s no-sex stance on Ashley Iaconetti‘s “Almost Famous” podcast. He said that while the decision may not be popular with everyone, it’s worked for them.
“It’s been the healthiest decision for us,” he claimed at the time.
The couple has yet to announce their new wedding plans.
