The Bachelor's Lauren Bushnell admits she jumped into a new relationship with boyfriend Devin Antin probably too soon after her breakup from Ben Higgins.
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Lauren and Ben got engaged at the conclusion of The Bachelor's 20th season in early 2016, only to announce their split a little over one year later in May 2017 due to "a combination of reasons," according to the former flight attendant.
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Lauren quickly moved on with Devin within two months of her heartbreak, and the pair's relationship is still going strong.
"It's been a year [with Devin], which is crazy. We're doing really well," Lauren told Entertainment Tonight.
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"I feel bad, because I feel we did start, like in hindsight, I think we started dating -- I wish I would have taken a little bit more time, but that's the way it went."
Lauren met Devin on Tinder about four or five months before she appeared on The Bachelor, but nothing happened because the timing wasn't right.
Once Lauren and Ben split and she moved back to Los Angeles, the pair reconnected and have been together ever since.
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"It naturally evolved. We had known each other before I went on the The Bachelor, and we were friends. But I do feel bad, because I went through a very hard, public breakup, and I do think I brought a lot of those emotions into me and Devin's relationship at the beginning," she admitted.
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"So it's definitely been, like, a roller coaster of a ride. He doesn't understand all of this stuff, and he was very confused by [Bachelor Nation], especially at first, when all people wanted to ask me about was Ben."
Lauren admitted that getting involved with Devin so soon after her engagement to Ben ended put her in the line of fire.
"I think everyone always wants there to be someone at fault, or a reason why, or someone wants to point the finger, and I think because I started dating Devin so soon after, I was kind of an easy target," Lauren shared with ET, although her breakup with Ben was mutual.
"That was obviously hard, but breakups are hard, whether you met on The Bachelor or not. Breakups suck."
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Lauren said the most difficult part of the breakup was dealing with scrutiny and criticism from fans; however, Devin helped her get through it all.
"I just had to take a step back, and for a while there, I just didn't read anything. And I still really don't," Lauren noted. "But when you hear something, it obviously still sticks with you."
When Ben and Lauren were together, she had moved to Denver, CO, with him, and the pair also starred on one season of Freeform's Ben & Lauren: Happily Ever After? spinoff.
"I was sad about the breakup, and I was going through a lot of changes. I was moving my life and trying to resettle and get my footing underneath me," Lauren recalled.
"I felt bad. I felt like I had failed. I felt all these emotions that you feel in a breakup, but then it was also on a very public scale."
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But Lauren said she's "a lot stronger" now having overcome so much adversity and her new relationship is better than ever.
Regardless, Lauren isn't rushing her romance with Devin.
"We definitely could [live together] at this point. I think just the timing has to be right," Lauren explained.
"I've just been through so much change, I think that's definitely not something I want to rush... I think The Bachelor taught me, honestly, that for me, at least personally, I want to take things a little bit slower this time around."
But in the meantime, Devin pushes Lauren to take on new projects and chase her dreams, especially in the fashion world.
"He really does push me to do things that I've dreamt of or I'm passionate about or want to do, and not push me in a way that's like, aggressive," Lauren gushed of her man.
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"[He] gives me that little nudge that maybe I need at times, which is really cool, and I've never really had someone who does that for me."
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About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski