Ben Higgins has explained what his big move would be to change The Bachelor franchise if ABC put him in charge.
ADVERTISEMENT
Ben, 34, shared how producers need to "modernize" the franchise, although the shows have somehow "come up with something new and different every season" before a star hands out his or her final rose during an appearance on Us Weekly's "Here for the Right Reasons" podcast.
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELOR' FRANCHISE COUPLES NOW: WHO IS STILL TOGETHER?? (PHOTOS)
"If I was in charge, this would be my big home run," Ben shared. "I would really lean into this senior dating show. I think it's something new. I don't think television has ever seen anything like it."
The network's plan for a Bachelor spinoff starring senior citizens was first teased in early 2020, but the coronavirus pandemic seemed to delay its production.
ADVERTISEMENT
ABC executive Robert Mills, however, assured fans in Spring 2022 that the long-mentioned spinoff -- which the network's The Bachelor broadcasts have still occasionally continued to run casting call promos for -- was still in the works.
"The senior citizens show is definitely going to happen at some point," Mills told Variety at the time.
"The response to that is so massive every time we put up a casting call, so I think it's definitely coming sooner rather than later," he added.
"For us, we really feel a responsibility to find the right person to be that senior Bachelor. So, we're looking. COVID obviously put a major wrinkle in everything, but we are really looking back in earnest at it."
Ben told Us that he thinks a senior The Bachelor edition would have a nostalgic feel to it and bring viewers back to the franchise's "golden era," when it was "easy to convince people to watch it" and people couldn't stop talking about the show with their friends.
ADVERTISEMENT
"I think the stories would go back to what we're used to watching when it comes to The Bachelor and Bachelorette -- those stories are going to be heartwrenching," Ben explained.
"They're going to be inspiring. If you're 50 or 60 years old and you're dating on national television, that takes a lot of risk."
Ben elaborated, "It takes something brand new that you haven't done ever in your life and that you're not used to, but you're also going to have a lot of life experience to share with the audience and with the other contestants and with the suitor."
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELORETTE' COUPLES NOW: WHOM DID 'THE BACHELORETTE' STARS AND THEIR BACHELOR PICKS ULTIMATELY END UP WITH?! (PHOTOS)
The Season 20 The Bachelor star said he believes the new senior-style spinoff could be "hilarious" and heartwarming.
ADVERTISEMENT
"I feel like this generation that's in their 20s and 30s, we get criticized for not leaning on our elderly for wisdom and advice. And I do think that's something we should be doing -- listening to the voices that have been through this before," Ben explained.
"But I also think that we're super curious to understand this generation that's older than us because there's so many things different between the two generations, right?"
Ben said the series would give fans "a whole new intrigue" and "outlook" on why senior citizens "say the things they say" or "think the way they think."
"[And] why are they so slow to pick up new advancements in technology in this world? I think this would be great. So I would just lean into that. [I] think it could replace a season of the show because I think it would be a home run," The Bachelorette 12 alum predicted.
When asked if he's pitching himself to host the senior spinoff of The Bachelor, Ben jumped at the potential opportunity, admitting, "Oh, I've done it since they started announcing it."
ADVERTISEMENT
"I've wanted to be the host of that show since the moment I first saw the commercial, I said, 'This is my dream,'" Ben revealed.
"I'm not asking for a lot from the show. I haven't asked for anything in years, but I am making sure that it is known that if they need somebody -- I'm not trying to take Jesse Palmer away from the show -- but just let me, like, be there as the medicine passer outer or, like, not the bartender, just let me figure out what blue pill to put in the bottle."
Ben apparently thinks The Bachelor franchise has essentially lost its sparkle in recent years.
"We didn't have a lot of competition [during the "golden era"] and so the thing that made it unique and special, and that did separate it from what it is today, is the fact that most of the people you knew in your circle of friends were getting together to watch and talk about the show," Ben pointed out.
"And that's not the case anymore."
Ben said in the past, "Everybody was talking about it, everybody was criticizing it, everybody was celebrating it, everybody was in it."
"And now, you know, if you watch The Bachelor, you're not on an island alone -- there's still many people that watch it -- but it's a smaller island than it was," Ben concluded.
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELOR' COUPLES NOW: WHO DID 'THE BACHELOR' STARS AND THEIR BACHELORETTE PICKS ACTUALLY END UP MARRYING? (PHOTOS)
Ben first competed on Kaitlyn Bristowe's season of The Bachelorette in 2015 and finished in third place, and then he was selected by ABC to star on The Bachelor's 20th season, which aired in 2016.
Following Ben's The Bachelor season, he and his winner Lauren Bushnell starred on a spinoff, Ben & Lauren: Happily Ever After?, which aired on Freeform and featured them planning a wedding.
But Ben and Lauren called off their engagement and split in May 2017, and then Ben looked for love on The Bachelor: Winter Games in 2018 but realized he wasn't quite ready to date again just yet.
ADVERTISEMENT
Ben became romantically involved with his now-wife Jessica Clarke in December 2018, and the couple went Instagram official in January 2019.
They continued to make a long-distance relationship work, with Ben being in Denver most of the time and Jessica living in Nashville, where she attended esthetics school.
After Ben proposed marriage to Jessica in March 2020, they purchased their first home together in Denver in December of that year.
Ben and Jessica went on to marry in a "simple and beautiful" wedding ceremony at The Estate in Cherokee Dock near Nashville, TN, in November 2021.
Ben previously said he and Jessica plan to expand their family, but they decided to start with a dog named Waylon.
Jessica has stayed by Ben's side even during the most difficult times, such as a "breakdown" in Summer 2021 that left Ben soul-searching and reaching out to family and friends for support.
Ben admitted at the time he had "lost" himself while being wrapped up in fame and so he struggled to navigate life once attention from his The Bachelor appearance "started to fade."
Ben also said he and Jessica don't watch The Bachelor franchise together because it's not healthy for them and could cause problems in their marriage to bring up those memories.
For Lauren's part, the Season 20 The Bachelor alum is married with two children to country singer Chris Lane.
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELOR' FRANCHISE COUPLES NOW: WHO IS STILL TOGETHER?? (PHOTOS)
Interested in more The Bachelor news? Join our The Bachelor Facebook Group!