Lauren Bushnell has remained pretty tight-lipped about her breakup with former The Bachelor star Ben Higgins -- until now.
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Ben and Lauren publicly announced their split last month, a little over a year after Ben popped the question on the March 2016 season finale of his The Bachelor edition. Ben recently said the breakup was a long time coming because the joy in their romance had faded over time.
Lauren revealed that while there was "of course" still a physical connection between the reality TV stars, there was another aspect of her romance with Ben that was lacking.
"It was more so the emotional connection that fizzled," Lauren told People.
Six months after The Bachelor's twentieth-season finale aired, Ben and Lauren signed on to star in their own reality spinoff Ben & Lauren: Happily Ever After? on Freeform that documented their life together in Denver, CO.
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The model, blogger and former flight attendant suggested to the magazine that the show contributed to the couple deciding to call it quits on their engagement, mainly because filming added unnecessary tension and pressure to everyday life.
"I remember during filming Happily Ever After?, I was so stressed out, we couldn't even communicate with one another when we were filming Happily Ever After?," Lauren explained.
It also probably didn't help that Ben called off their televised wedding during the series, which blindsided Lauren and genuinely upset her. Ben confessed to getting cold feet and said he needed more time to get to know Lauren, but his fiancee was already picking out bridesmaid dresses and bridal registry items.
"We were just stressed and tired physically. Emotionally, I just felt like it wasn't there anymore," noted the blonde beauty, who recently told TMZ that the situation was "kind of awful."
Ben previously addressed his split with Lauren during an episode of his new podcast with Ashley Iaconetti, Ben and Ashley: Almost Famous.
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"I think, mutually, Lauren and I saw that life was getting more difficult," Ben said, recalling the last few months of their time together.
"I would say the joy that we felt toward our relationship at the beginning was -- for some reason -- slipping away, and we were both working very hard to bring that joy back. And it just never seemed to get there. So it was a long time coming, but it wasn't necessarily like we dragged it out."
The pair also had to deal with constant rumors that their relationship was on the rocks and public scrutiny.
Ben and Lauren had to spend most of their relationship defending their love rather than enjoying it, dating all the way back to when the former Bachelor controversially confessed his love to his runner-up JoJo Fletcher.
Lauren also struggled to adjust to life in Denver, as she loved living in Los Angeles, CA, with her friends and family.
About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski