Not surprising! Ben Higgins can definitely relate to Clare Crawley‘s Bachelorette experience, the season 11 Bachelor revealed during the Tuesday, August 4, episode of the “Almost Famous” podcast.
“Two days in, I was like, ‘Holy cow this girl is fantastic, and she is — Lauren [Bushnell]’s fantastic. But I told the show that. I said, ‘Hey, I’m like pretty sold out here. I don’t know how I’m gonna do this,” Higgins, 31, told cohost Ashley Iaconetti about his journey. (He proposed to Bushnell, 30, in the end but the two later split.) “They told me one thing and I’m glad they did. They said, ‘Ben, you have one opportunity in your life to date and get to know multiple people at one time. Invest into their lives, get to understand them, know them, ask them questions, pursue them.'”
The Bachelorette alum explained “12 days in” he was “pretty singular focused” on Bushnell, but 30 days in, he “started to get pulled in different directions.” Of course, Higgins famously told both Bushnell and runner-up Jojo Fletcher that he loved them because he was torn.
“I would just recommend to any lead, like, I know your heart might be pulled but you might want to stick through it because I think you’ll see the life benefit from it if you do,” he added.
The Generous Coffee founder’s reveal comes after the news that Crawley, 39, quit season 16 of The Bachelorette less than two weeks into filming because she had fallen in love with one of her suitors. The big difference was that she was able to get to know the man before filming began since the show was delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
“He always thought Clare was attractive before they even met,” a source told Us Weekly exclusively about the man she left the show with. “She is totally his type and he loved her energy. He contacted her before the show and they really hit it. They would DM a bunch and then started FaceTiming and things moved quickly.”
In turn, Crawley exited the show and Tayshia Adams, who appeared on Colton Underwood‘s season of The Bachelor in 2019 and on Bachelor in Paradise, began filming as the new Bachelorette.
Both journeys are set to air during season 16 of The Bachelorette on ABC Tuesdays this fall.
