Lauren Bushnell definitely feels for JoJo Fletcher now that their The Bachelor love-triangle with Ben Higgins has been brought to light again on Ben & Lauren: Happily Ever After?.
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During the latest episode of the new Freeform reality series starring Higgins and Bushnell, the couple went on a double date with Fletcher -- whom Higgins confessed his love to on The Bachelor -- and her new fiance Jordan Rodgers.
It took some time for Bushnell to even come around to the idea of a double date with her former competition, and once the outing commenced, it was certainly awkward at first.
"As of now, [JoJo] hasn't seen [the show]," Bushnell told the Hollywood Reporter during an engagement party the network had hosted for herself and Higgins.
"I texted her because I wanted to make sure that she understood that the whole scenario was not with JoJo and I. That whole struggle for me, personally, was with Ben and the scenario of how we met and how we got engaged and how he told two women that [he loved them]."
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Conversation on the double date, however, became more enjoyable and less intense as the two pairs enjoyed mimosas and sushi at a restaurant.
"I'm not blaming [Ben] at all -- but that's what we had to move forward from. I texted her to kind of make sure that she knew that it really had nothing to do with her," Bushnell reiterated.
If anything, Bushnell feels sympathy for Fletcher, who had also expected a proposal from Higgins but was brutally rebuffed on The Bachelor's twentieth-season finale, which aired in March on ABC.
"If anything, she was another victim in this scenario and I didn't want her to think otherwise," Bushnell told the Reporter.
As Bushnell explained on Happily Ever After?, Fletcher was also pestered with questions about Higgins as well as reminders of her heartbreak long after The Bachelor filmed and aired on television. Both women struggled to move on from the situation due to constant reports in the press and talk amongst fans.
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"It was just hard for me as a person, as a fiancee, as someone who's still getting to know my fiance, it was really hard to start off on that foot," Bushnell explained. "Realistically, that was a challenge Ben and I had to overcome. Thankfully, we have. But it really had little to do with JoJo."
In the next episode of Ben & Lauren: Happily Ever After?, Higgins and Bushnell embark on a camping trip with infamous The Bachelorette villain Chad "the bear" Johnson.
"There is a bear that's showing up in the episode which Chad's on, which could be his brother? I don't know," Higgins joked. "It's pretty ironic. Chad shows up and the bear shows up."
Bushnell teased, "Ben was so excited. I've never seen someone so excited to see a bear. Freaking out."
Ben & Lauren: Happily Ever After? currently airs on Tuesday nights at 8PM ET/PT on ABC's sister network.
About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski