Ben Higgins Reveals He’s In Couples Counseling With Lauren Bushnell, Explains Why Their Wedding Is Delayed

Ben Higgins is in no rush to walk down the aisle with Lauren Bushnell. The Bachelor Season 20 star, who became engaged within weeks after meeting his reality TV soulmate, is taking things slow by strengthening his bond with his bride-to-be before they exchange vows. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Ben Higgins admitted that he and Lauren are in couples counseling as they continue to navigate their relationship in the real world.

“You’re committing your life to somebody else, right?” Higgins explained.

“So one thing we’re doing that’s really cool — today is actually our first day — through our church, we’re doing couples counseling, way before even premarital counseling…We need a mediator between us just to help us communicate anything that we need to work out individually and together, and then let’s celebrate.”

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Both Higgins and his fiancée are determined to get things right, so they’re not taking any chances. Bushnell said she wants to make sure that, “Ben knows everything there is to know about me, and I know everything there is to know about him.”

Things have not been all roses for Lauren and Ben, who got engaged in March in Jamaica. One of the biggest issues that came up after the show aired was Bushnell’s discovery that Higgins also told his runner-up, JoJo Fletcher, that he was in love with her. Lauren told Us Weekly that Ben’s love for both her and another woman put her in a “hurtful and confusing” situation.

“I don’t think any of us can really put ourselves in Ben’s shoes, and it took me a long time to learn that because I wanted an answer so bad,” Bushnell told Us. “I’m learning to break down those walls — that I didn’t even realize I put up — through honesty, conversation, communication and then just time.”

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As they work on their relationship, Ben and Lauren have reached out to successful Bachelor couples, including Catherine Giudici and Sean Lowe, and original Bachelorette Trista Sutter, who has been married to Ryan Sutter since 2003. In addition, Higgins and Bushnell will go on a double date with Fletcher and her fiancé, Jordan Rodgers. The unlikely foursome’s date will play out on the upcoming Freeform reality show, Ben & Lauren: Happily Ever After? But as they deal with real life issues in their post-reality TV world, Ben Higgins and his future bride say they are in no rush to get married.

“We are not in any rush,” Bushnell told People. “But everyone else around us is! We’re both ready to get married, but we haven’t set a date because we want to make sure we’re not doing it for anyone but ourselves.”

Higgins added that the delay of the wedding has nothing to do with being unsure that he and Lauren are meant to be together. Instead, he says they are just really enjoying being engaged.

“It doesn’t say anything about cold feet or second thoughts,” Ben told the magazine. “We just want to do it on our own terms. And we want to be engaged. We don’t want to look back when we’re fifty and think we could have enjoyed this time more.”

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Higgins and Bushnell have already teased a TV wedding, and the bride-to-be has also talked about the fact that she is leaning towards the idea of having a winter ceremony. As for Ben Higgins, he wants their big day to be a Bachelor blowout.

“I just want to look over at Lauren and know that she is completely filled with joy in that moment,” Ben said of their wedding day. “And I want it to be one heck of a party!”

Take a look at the video below to see Ben Higgins and Lauren Bushnell talking about their decision to go to couples counseling.

Ben & Lauren: Happily Ever After? premieres Oct. 11 on Freeform.

[Featured Image by John Lamparski/Getty Images]