EXCLUSIVE: Ben Higgins on Living and Working With Lauren Bushnell: 'It Isn't Healthy'
Ben Higgins and Lauren Bushnell’s Freeform reality show, Happily Ever After?, airs its season finale on Nov. 29, but does a season finale also mean a series finale?
“As as we sit here now, we don't know,” Higgins tells ET. “We’re trying to, just like [with] the wedding and everything in life right now, not get consumed with what's next for us -- just take a step back and enjoy our relationship. [A second season] will be something we'll have to start talking about and processing through.”
Bushnell says the pair is “open to any opportunity that comes,” but both are honest about the strain that reality TV and living together have put on their relationship this year.
WATCH: ‘Bachelor in Paradise’ Couple Splits: Find Out Who
“The best thing is we've gotten to spend a lot of time together, and I think that also sometimes can be the worst thing in a way, because we haven’t really had our space, and both of us are really independent people,” Bushnell reveals.
Higgins says that the pair have essentially been working and living together. “I don’t think it’s healthy for any relationship,” he admits.
Breakup rumors have swirled for the Bachelor couple since Ever After’s Nov. 15 episode, during which Higgins asked to put their wedding plans on hold. The day after the episode aired, the pair assured ET they were still engaged.
“Our relationship is not always easy, we never claimed it would be,” Higgins says now. “During the show, you saw a lot of our ups and downs. But we’re very happy… We’re happy that we’re together, and we’ll see where that takes us.”
As for the much-talked-about wedding, it’s still on hold, and no date has been set. The couple reveals that doing reality TV taught them even more about what to work on in their relationship.
WATCH: Ben Higgins and Lauren Bushnell on Whether They’d Televise Their Wedding
“That’s the best part of our relationship,” Higgins says. “Working together to get better. I’d say our communication needs to get better. We both have struggled.”
Now, they’re looking forward to the holidays and some much-needed downtime. Higgins wants to work on their home in Denver, while Bushnell will focus on her lifestyle blog. And yes, both will be watching the new season of The Bachelor. They may even make brackets!
“We’ve been out of it for a while now,” Bushnell says with a smile. “So I do feel enough disconnected and I feel like we're in such a good place in our relationship that I can watch it from an actual viewer’s standpoint, and not feel like I’m reliving something!”