'The Bachelor's Kacie Boguskie: Ben Flajnik and I wouldn't worked

The Bachelor bachelorette Kacie Boguskie, a 24-year-old administrative assistant from Clarksville, TN, was eliminated by Bachelor Ben Flajnik when he narrowed his love search to three women during last week's broadcast of the ABC reality dating series' sixteenth season.


However, Kacie B. then returned to the show in search of some answers and closure during Monday night's broadcast.

During a Thursday conference call with reporters, Kacie B. talked to Reality TV World about her The Bachelor experience and broken heart -- including whether she believed there were additional reasons behind Ben's "we were worlds apart" reason for her elimination besides her parents' hesitancy to fully embrace the relationship, why she wouldn't be surprised if Ben's relationship with his final bachelorette is already over, whether she was angry with her family for scaring Ben away, and what was going through her mind when Ben declined host Chris Harrison's offer to let her re-join the competition and be part of the Rose Ceremony following her surprise return to the show.

Below is our interview with Kacie B. Check back with Reality TV World on Friday for the rest of Kacie's conference call, as well as our interview with Nicki Sterling, whom Ben eliminated on Monday night's The Bachelor broadcast. 

Reality TV World: The main issues viewers got to see about your hometown date was that your dad didn't drink and wasn't thrilled to give Ben his permission to marry you and your mother voicing her opinion about how she'd be disappointed if you two ended up moving in together after the show. Was that all there was to it behind Ben's bold statement of you two being from different backgrounds or did more happen that viewers didn't get to see, maybe giving Ben a little more justification for feeling that way?


Kacie Boguskie: No, I think that those were the highlights, but going into it, I was like, 'Oh, my dad doesn't drink.' And I didn't mean it in a bad way. I was just preparing him for dinner, you know? Like in case he doesn't drink, don't be offended, but it's okay if we do.

I think that and then my mom talking about us moving in together -- those were some things that he wanted to live with whoever he was going to be with and he does own a winery, so those were two things in his life that didn't exactly line up with my parents views. And so, I think they hit the highlights. They did a good job of hitting the highlights of what could have possibly led to him making his decision.

Reality TV World: Chris Harrison has characterized your struggles with respecting your parents' desire that you not live with Ben as an indication that you're still young and immature.  What is your response to that -- do you believe that being respectful of your parents' feelings is a sign of immaturity?

Kacie Boguskie: No, I don't think so. At the end of the day, they are my parents and they have my best interests at heart and they also want me to stick to the values they've instilled in me. And so, I want to respect them, but at the same time, I think there's also some compromise. I think that that could have been -- that would have been one of Ben and I's decisions and not their's at the end of the day.

Reality TV World: So once you got home, were you upset with your family at all for maybe scaring Ben off or changing his mind about your relationship or did you believe that they did the right thing in looking out for you and asking life's important questions because they simply wanted what was best for you? Were you a bit angry or were you more appreciative?


Kacie Boguskie: No, I wasn't angry with them at all because they stuck to their values, which is hard if you get wrapped up in some of this, you know? -- to do that and to stand up for what they believe in. So, I was proud of them for that and also, at the end of the day, we're going to spend holidays with my family and they're always going to be a big part of my life.

I feel like if whoever I'm with, they don't mesh, that could cause problems for me and them later. And so, I want everybody to get along. I want the big Partridge family, I guess, so. (Laughs) So, I guess it wouldn't work. 

Reality TV World: There has been a report that things are already over between Ben and the bachelorette he picked at the end. If that's true, what's your reaction to that and would that surprise you?

Kacie Boguskie: I haven't heard anything like that, but if it was, I think that this has been hard to watch for everybody and it would pose a lot of questions I think for Ben towards [Courtney Robertson]. So, it might make things really hard for them to work through, so it would be hard for me as a person to watch that and not have a lot of questions. So, yeah, it wouldn't surprise me.

Reality TV World: What was your family's reaction when you got home? Were they disappointed in Ben? And how did their opinion of Ben change, if at all, from while you were on the show and since they've been watching the season unfold on TV week to week and get to his relationships with the other women? 


Kacie Boguskie: Initially when I got home, my parents really liked Ben. At my hometown date, they did like him as a person, you know? And I think watching the show, they just have seen different sides of him, but they still respect him and think he's a great guy and they do want the best for him. They want him to be happy.

Reality TV World: You seemed extremely surprised about your elimination, so who did you think was going to be sent home instead of you? What was going through your mind as he was about to hand out his last rose?

Kacie Boguskie: Going into it, I definitely didn't think that I was going home. But I didn't know how the other hometown dates had gone, so I had no clue of who could possible be going home.

But when it got down to Nicki and I and only one rose, I thought that it was going to be me and that Nicki would be going home. And I have the utmost respect for Nicki in the world. I think that she's one of the best people out there, and I was shocked though that it was me.

Reality TV World: When Chris Harrison sat down with Ben after you returned to the show, he asked him if he wanted to allow you to join the other girls for the Rose Ceremony, and in other words, give you a second chance. What was your reaction when you found that out and how did it make you feel when Ben chose to decline the offer? Did it not really surprise you or did it make you hurt even more?


Kacie Boguskie: No, after watching that and Ben said no, I understand that. I didn't go back expecting him to want me back, because there is a lot that happened, especially in a short amount of time. It's hard to I guess, play catch up, if you want to call it that.

And so, unless his feelings were very strong, I wouldn't expect him to say yes. It would have been awesome if he did. When he said no, it was just a little more closure knowing that he really didn't see this in the end and I don't want to be with somebody who just doesn't hands down want to be with me.

Reality TV World: So just to clarify, what would you have done if Ben decided to ask you to return to the competition? It's seems safe to assume you'd say yes because you were clearly in love with him, but had Ben hurt you too much at that point to truly recover and be able to get back into a healthy relationship with him?

Kacie Boguskie: No, I mean, clearly I was still in love with him. It had only been three days. You can't fall out of love that quickly, unfortunately.

But I would've said yes, because I think that him choosing to keep me over somebody else -- I think that because he would send people home right away like in the middle of a date, he was like, "Eh, this isn't working," [so] he wasn't afraid to send them home.


And so if he had asked me to stay, it would have, I think, signified to me that maybe I was the one and I probably wouldn't have worried about being sent home after that.

Reality TV World: Have you moved on since the show or are you still in the process of getting over Ben and what happened? Are you still single or are you dating anyone now? 

Kacie Boguskie: I am still single. And I think that watching it has been therapeutic in helping me get over it. But I am in a great place right now and I am ready to see who I meet next, and so yeah, I'm doing great.

Reality TV World: How did you end up on The Bachelor? Did you apply or did someone nominate you, and was it also your first time applying for the show?

Kacie Boguskie: It was my first time applying for the show. I did it myself and it was online, like months before they contacted me, and then it just went from there. But I don't even honestly remember applying online. It must have been a very short application. (Laughs)

Reality TV World: So you did not know that the Bachelor was going to be Ben?


Kacie Boguskie: Whenever I applied, no. I did not know, and we didn't know until right before we left who it was.

Reality TV World: Did you see him on Ashley Hebert's The Bachelorette season?

Kacie Boguskie: I did. I was going through the casting process during Ashley's season, so I watched in case it was one of those guys to know about him a little bit.

Reality TV World: So when you did find out it was Ben, what were your thoughts? Were you excited about him being the Bachelor?

Kacie Boguskie: I was excited about Ben! As I had been watching the season, there were a few people that I was -- you know, I would be happy if it was them. And so when it was him, I was very excited.

Check back with Reality TV World on Friday for the rest of Kacie's conference call, as well as our interview with Nicki Sterling, whom Ben eliminated on Monday night's The Bachelor broadcast. 






About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski