Lauren Bushnell - Bachelor 20 - *Sleuthing - Spoilers* - #5

*** It's not okay to comment on other member's posts in a critical way. It's their right to have a different opinion no matter how much someone else may disagree.

I honestly wasn't talking about people here but I can see how it would have seemed so. Sorry about that.

Hoosier wrote:Hello, I'm new here. I didn't see this article from Friday posted and wanted to share (feel free to delete if I missed it). Lauren's wording about his feelings for two women mirrors his video interview comment about the fact that the woman he chose was "gracious" enough to say "I get it, and I love you, too." In this piece, Lauren talks about understanding the position he was in during filming.

http://www.pamplinmedia.com/lor/48-news/297224-174069-lauren-b-reflects-on-the-bachelor

ETA: This is the original video clip I quoted above. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RIBYvyehw_s

Hoosier! What a great article. She is very mature, well thought out with her answers, and great to read she kept it real without getting swooped in the bubble.

Thank you for posting that interview, Hoosier, and

That's a great interview. Ben really lucked out!

I'm not able to access the article getting 404 messages -- anyone able to copy the text here please??

Lauren B reflects on 'The Bachelor'

Considering it all started with 26 women fighting for the same man, West Linn’s Lauren Bushnell admits it was a little bit surreal to find herself as one of the remaining two finalists battling for Ben Higgins’ heart.

It’s particularly improbable, though, considering Bushnell says she started Season 20 of “The Bachelor” with a decent amount of skepticism. While the show produces some couples who stand the test of time, far more end up apart than together when it’s all said and done, and the odds of Higgins falling for her amidst 25 other women was unlikely.

But Bushnell, a 2008 West Linn High School graduate, not only outlasted at least 24 other contestants, she fell in love, too — something she said she hadn’t anticipated. Filming wrapped up months ago, but she can’t reveal whether or not she’s the woman Higgins proposed to until the show finale airs March 14. Though rumors are swirling around the Internet, no one will know for sure who Higgins chose until the final episode airs, and he walks out with his fiancée during the live portion of the show.

In an exclusive interview with the Pamplin Media Group, Bushnell (known as Lauren B on the show) revealed how she got to the final episode, what really happened during her hometown date in Portland and what it’s been like watching herself fall in love on national television.

She credits her mindset and focus on staying true to herself as the main reasons for her relationship with Higgins to grow like it did.

“I was skeptical of the show, enough to the point where I was aware of my surroundings during filming and didn’t want to get sucked up in the process,” Bushnell says. “I didn’t have any expectations that I would fall in love, because it seemed so unlikely, which I think helped the experience to be real.

“I felt like the whole thing was very natural. I didn’t try to compare my relationship with him to the other women, and I didn’t change who I was. Watching it back on TV, I think the show did a good job of picking up on the natural chemistry we share.”

Bushnell says she didn’t really feel any nerves about where she stood with Higgins until the final week of filming, the finale episode, which ironically followed the week that Higgins told Bushnell he had fallen in love with her. Even in that moment she says she was cognizant that he might have similar feelings for another contestant. She says she understands how he fell in love with two women, even if she wishes it had been only her.

“Up until the actual moment when I found out, I had no idea if he was going to propose,” she says. “The producers keep (the final two women) separate from one another, which is good, and it allowed me to focus on my relationship and not think about JoJo. I tried to be realistic about the whole process and I didn’t think it was farfetched for him to love both of us.”

Bushnell says she didn’t learn every detail about Higgins’ conflicted feelings until watching Episode 9 with the rest of America, when Higgins told both women he loved them. She says while it was hard to watch, she understands how it could happen.

“He had told me he loved me, but to me that didn’t mean it was me at the end,” she says. “He’s taking a lot of heat for it right now, but that’s how the show is set up. I could see how it would happen.”

She says the final week of filming was “the most anxious week of my life,” and that she’s excited for the final episode to air so that she can openly talk about everything that transpired. Contestants aren’t allowed to use their phones or Internet during filming, adding even more stress to the process. Still, she says the decision to be on the show was worth it — regardless if she is indeed engaged to Higgins or not.

“The last week was really intense, because I was so close to the end and I knew it was either going to be the best day of my life, or potentially one of the worst,” she says. “I was also in disbelief ... because there was such a natural element to our relationship. I had never had to think about us until the end, and when I was with him nothing ever felt forced. I kind of forgot we were on TV until the end, when things got really real all of a sudden.”

Bushnell says the hometown date was just as natural as the pair’s relationship, and that introducing Higgins to her family went as well as she could have hoped. She enjoyed showing him around Portland, a city she says she’s proud to have grown up near, and was relieved that her family responded well to Higgins from the jump. At that point in the season there were still four contestants on the show and the reality remained that Higgins was dating multiple women. She says she was “extremely” nervous to introduce Higgins to her family, but that the day-long date was one of the best she’s ever had.

“I was nervous for a few reasons, because I didn’t know how my parents would react to the cameras — I didn’t know if they would feel comfortable. But they were and it just felt like a normal night. I forgot we were in the setting we were in. They were excited to see me and met Ben, and they were skeptical, but after talking I think they were genuinely relieved and felt good about everything. I’m glad Mollie (Bushnell’s younger sister) and my dad asked tough questions, because they were valid questions that I would have asked too.”

And while it’s still unclear if Bushnell did in fact meet her future husband on “The Bachelor,” she says her life has changed, at least a little, since going on the show. She’s amassed nearly 500,000 followers on Instagram since the show premiered in January, and says it’s not uncommon that she gets recognized in public. She considers herself a generally private person, having not been much of a social media user prior the show, and she says that she’s maintained a relatively normal life to this point. What happens after the finale, though, is anyone’s guess.

“I’ve been back and forth between Portland and LA (where Bushnell lives now) a few times, and the strangest part has been being recognized,” she says. “I’ve managed to lay low for the most part, but I might go to the grocery store or in an elevator and someone will say ‘hi.’ Everyone has been so nice to me, and it’s been especially nice to have that hometown support in Portland.”

The show finale airs Monday, March 14, at 8 p.m. on ABC, at which point the world will learn whether or not Bushnell was given the final rose. While she already knows the verdict, she says she’s still nervous to watch it unfold on television.

“It’s been an interesting experience to watch myself on TV and relive all those emotions, the bad ones and the amazing ones,” she says. “I’m glad this is the last time.”

source

Hoosier wrote:Hello, I'm new here. I didn't see this article from Friday posted and wanted to share (feel free to delete if I missed it). Lauren's wording about his feelings for two women mirrors his video interview comment about the fact that the woman he chose was "gracious" enough to say "I get it, and I love you, too." In this piece, Lauren talks about understanding the position he was in during filming.

http://www.pamplinmedia.com/lor/48-news/297224-174069-lauren-b-reflects-on-the-bachelor

ETA: This is the original video clip I quoted above. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RIBYvyehw_s

Thank you for posting these! I hadn't read/seen either before. I love both of their perspectives on things. What a great match. Sigh.

ForeverLove wrote:
snip

“It’s been an interesting experience to watch myself on TV and relive all those emotions, the bad ones and the amazing ones,” she says. “I’m glad this is the last time.”

Between this and Ben's caption yesterday on his IG pic, I think these two are sooooo ready to move on from this whole TV experience. Freedom at last!  

bluwavz wrote:

ForeverLove wrote:
snip

“It’s been an interesting experience to watch myself on TV and relive all those emotions, the bad ones and the amazing ones,” she says. “I’m glad this is the last time.”

Between this and Ben's caption yesterday on his IG pic, I think these two are sooooo ready to move on from this whole TV experience. Freedom at last!  

Yes and glad for Caila too. My Filipino friends here aren't too happy though. They think it's like a reverse Miss Universe. Give the crown to Miss Phillipines then rip it away.

I know that there are many hints but I think the one that says the most to me is that Lauren said a few times on the show "I get it" And when Ben talked to Access Hollywood he said he was gracious enough to find a girl that said "I get it" and I love you, too. I don't remember if JoJo said I get it on the show as well. Does anyone know?

ForeverLove wrote:

bluwavz wrote:

ForeverLove wrote:
snip

“It’s been an interesting experience to watch myself on TV and relive all those emotions, the bad ones and the amazing ones,” she says. “I’m glad this is the last time.”

Between this and Ben's caption yesterday on his IG pic, I think these two are sooooo ready to move on from this whole TV experience. Freedom at last!  

Yes and glad for Caila too. My Filipino friends here aren't too happy though. They think it's like a reverse Miss Universe. Give the crown to Miss Phillipines then rip it away.

I'm glad for Caila as well even though it would've been cool to announce her as the lead on National Hapa Day. You suck, TPTB. Oh well, freedom for the folks I actually liked this season.