Lauren Bushnell Opens Up About Ben Higgins Telling JoJo Fletcher He Loved Her

Lauren Bushnell and Ben Higgins have ended their relationship after getting engaged on The Bachelor. Now, weeks after they announced their split, Bushnell is opening up about her relationship with Higgins and even talked about how his relationship with Bachelor runner-up JoJo Fletcher bothered her. On the show’s finale, Bushnell walked away with a groom, but she also had to hear the man that she loved tell another woman that he loved her.

It was a tough situation for Higgins, who was one of (if not) the only Bachelors to tell both women that he was in love with them. For years, the words “I love you” weren’t muttered by a Bachelor until the finale. However, Higgins’ feelings were overwhelming, and he simply couldn’t keep them in. He told Lauren that he loved her, but he also told JoJo that he was in love with her. Both women felt confident that Ben was going to propose, but JoJo ended up with a broken heart.

Moreover, while that may have been okay for Lauren at the time, finding out that Ben told JoJo that he loved her wasn’t easy.

“I don’t think I’ve ever talked about how hurtful that was,” Bushnell told People Magazine. “I always try to be really strong because I wanted to move forward from it. But because I wanted to move forward from it, I don’t think I ever really opened up about how hard that was just in terms of, like, I wanted to make that decision to get engaged one time in my life and I felt like I wasn’t told everything that had happened,” she added.

Lauren Bushnell then had to watch The Bachelor when it aired and actually had to watch Ben’s interactions with JoJo. She actually had to watch her fiance tell another woman that he loved her — something that she says “wasn’t ideal.”

“When The Bachelor aired, reliving that months later wasn’t ideal either. I was still like, ‘We’re going to move forward from this,’ but then the press, that’s what everybody wanted to talk about. I’ve never shared with anyone, except for Ben, how hurtful that situation was and how hard it is to continually talk about it over and over again when you’re trying to start a life with someone,” Lauren explained.

However, Lauren doesn’t believe that Ben being in love with two women is what ultimately split them up.

“Looking back, I wish I could be like, ‘That’s why it didn’t work out,’ but I think it was just a very abnormal situation and one that [ended] unfortunately. I mean we tried,” she said.

Higgins is dealing with the split in his own way. He recently started a podcast with pal, Ashley I. He has opened up about his split from Lauren also.

“The last few months have not gone the way I would have preferred. My relationships have changed drastically and what I envisioned my life was going to be has been redirected. It is sad, but it is nothing you should feel sorry for me about, life happens both the good and bad. With this, what do you think I should do now? For all of you that have given me advice let me give you some from my heart. Love as hard as you can (even to strangers). Ask yourself what life is about and pursue your conclusion with passion. When a good opportunity comes your way that fits your desires take it, because life is short but a lot more fun when you are doing something you enjoy,” he recently said in an Instagram post.

Lauren Bushnell and Ben Higgins’ split wasn’t surprising for Bachelor Nation. Many fans of the show felt that these two weren’t going to last — and they were right. Were you surprised to hear that Ben and Lauren ended their engagement? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.

[Featured Image by Isaac Brekken/Getty Images for iHeartMedia]