'Ben & Lauren: Happily Ever After?' Premiere Has a Third Wheel: JoJo Fletcher

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Ben Higgins and Lauren Bushnell are a golden couple in Bachelor Nation right now, and rightfully so. They're both kind, scandal-free and, having interviewed them several times, they seem genuinely in love post-Bachelor. But with a new reality show on Freeform, Happily Ever After?, the question became: how would this pretty perfect couple create the drama needed to make good reality TV?

That question was answered in the premiere, at least, thanks to Higgins' infamous past as the only Bachelor to ever tell two women "I love you." Tuesday night's episode was mostly about JoJo Fletcher, Higgins' ex and the most recent Bachelorette. Bushnell told ET that the hardest part about life after The Bachelor has been reliving Higgins' relationship with Fletcher, and that was evident in the premiere. She was unhappy about attending Fletcher's After the Final Rose (an ask from producers), spurring a spat between her and Higgins.


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"I have had a friendship with JoJo outside of you and I, since before you and I were engaged," she explained to Higgins. "The place where I get uncomfortable is when it's you, me and JoJo because it just takes me back."

But, they would attend, so Bushnell and Higgins binge-watched Fletcher's season of The Bachelorette. This part was fun to see because the couple had the same reactions to the season as the rest of Bachelor Nation: they noticed Fletcher's guys all looked the same, they all had great hair and she brought up Higgins in conversation ... a lot.

Here's the thing: as complicated as reality TV relationships are, Higgins and Fletcher had a real relationship, plain and simple; that's why they're both part of each other's reality TV lives after The Bachelor. It's understandable that Bushnell struggled with overcoming watching her fiance say "I love you" to another woman on national television, and it's understandable that getting dumped hurt Fletcher. One refreshing thing about Bushnell and Higgins is that they're real about their problems; the pair told ET they're already in couples counseling to help their relationship.


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Viewers will see more of Fletcher next week, when Higgins, Bushnell, Fletcher and her fiance, Jordan Rodgers, all get lunch together in Los Angeles after the After the Final Rose taping. Happily Ever After? airs Tuesday nights on Freeform.