The Bachelor 20 - Ben Higgins - ATFR - *Sleuthing - Spoilers* #3

I remember looking at the first few pictures of Lauren after she got back from filming and thinking she did gain weight. The only pictures we had of her (before her instagram became public again) were from her friends and family's social media pre-filming, and then seeing her right after filming there was a difference. I think she's just lost the weight and is wearing more makeup than she usually does for these interviews.

I wonder if having her wisdom teeth removed affected how her face,especially the cheeks,look.

sophienette wrote:I think he looked detached because he had enough of TPTB and Ch... he wanted to get out of there!

Sophie - we're at it again. IMO Ben did just what the show asked him to do - give them something around which to build an alternative reality in which JoJo was an apparent choice so they could keep suspense going to the end. And they exploited that - even getting his own mother to come out and say she preferred JoJo and releasing that clip as a preview (funny it never made the final edit). And by the time of the ATFR Ben had had it up to his eyeballs in manipulation of his life and his future and all he cared about was taking his girl and saying goodbye to all the tomfoolery.
JMHO

Kashathediva wrote:

Mommyof1 wrote:I just can't believe that Ben's pastor flew in for this charade put on by TPTB.

I wonder if CM and CO. told each family member and the pastor that the couple was going to surprise everyone by getting married live on stage and used this ruse to get them all in attendance. 
Then I have to wonder if CM and CO. used this to make the couple believe that since they flew in both families and the pastor in for the ATFR that the couple would cave and get married on live tv. Using the excuse that all the important players were there. 
This way each party did not know the full story or be on the same page as the other, yet would feel pressure to perform the role TPTB were asking of them. TPTB used the element of shock and surprise and did not let Ben or Lauren realize family was there until the last minute. They seemed thrown off balance by the whole live marriage suggestion.
I am soooooo glad the couple did not fall for this idiotic manipulation and stood their ground. Ben looked like a deer in the headlights.

ITA with ^^^ and IMO your analysis of that "surprise wedding" is just another one in a list of things they did that Ben just simply had had enough of. I thought his on-the-spot answer was perfect - along with how he later would answer that question when asked on GMA.
JMHO

Ben stated on one of the interviews today that he set up Lauren's parents to come at the ATFR but Lauren didn't. He was keeping that secret from her because he wanted to propose again. Lauren was the only one out of the loop. TPTB knew about it and probably wanted Ben to marry Lauren instead proposing but I'm glad Ben didn't fall into that and just did the proposal instead.

KB_Mom wrote:I wonder if having her wisdom teeth removed affected how her face,especially the cheeks,look.

I know in my case and also in my wife's case, we didn't have our wisdom teeth extracted until they started to cause a problem and that problem could well have been what made her cheeks look fuller. Extracting them would cure that problem but it would make her look slightly different in a before and after comparison. The after would be more representative of how she looked before she started having problems with her wisdom teeth.
JMHO

The real shocker for me is that Ben turned down DWTS according to the AOL interview. He essentially said that his relationship and getting back to normal is their priority vs jumping back into TV. Huge kudos, wow!

albean99 wrote:Great post, stuck. I thought they felt very comfortable with each other and to me it's good that they're talking instead of letting things get under their skin. I wonder if Ben realized after that the "love" with Jojo was probably more lust than anything. They had a lot of chemistry but the same can be said for many f2 from the past.

I'm not much for overanalyzing couples' body language but do remember Andi & Josh seemed way too OTT and I never bought it. I did notice something that I thought was sweet. On GMA when Lauren was talking, Ben was rubbing her back as if in support. I also think he took a step back and let her talk in the interviews. It seems that the lead gets tired of carrying all the weight all season so enjoys letting someone else talk.

To me, this also allows to show that Lauren "got it". With Lauren taking the lead it shows her understanding of the process and more importantly her growing love for Ben, her strength and faith. Ben got lucky and he knows it. Lauren is the real deal.

stuckinsc wrote:So he breathes heavy and she mentioned it. Far better than bringing up his pesky habit of telling other women he loves them.

Sorry, JMO, She seems to have gotten over ILY and JoJo is my best friend pretty well. Ben can handle a little criticism or he isn't worth it.

I think, IMO, that best friend statement was true in the sense that JoJo insinuated herself in that position making it easy for Ben to be comfortable and be himself around her. She too took advantage to get far... JoJo making sure to tell him not to blindside her and then to high five like some agreement. JoJo prodding and questioning got the answers she was looking for....just didn't work out. She made it easy for him to fall for her, but there was always one obstacle and that was his F1.

Cila51290 wrote:Ben stated on one of the interviews today that he set up Lauren's parents to come at the ATFR but Lauren didn't. He was keeping that secret from her because he wanted to propose again. Lauren was the only one out of the loop. TPTB knew about it and probably wanted Ben to marry Lauren instead proposing but I'm glad Ben didn't fall into that and just did the proposal instead.

That rxplains why she was so confused when CH mentioned family being there.

I've got to say.... I just watched the AOL interview and Ben and Lauren looked fabulous.  Ben super handsome and relaxed and Lauren incredibly gorgeous and effervescent.  What a pleasure to see them so happy, connected and at ease.  Night and Day difference from the vibe at the ATFR last night.  Having that stress behind them is a huge weight lifted and it shows.  I am even more convinced than ever that they are the real deal.

Hello!  

I have been hanging out in the unspoiled thread and I thought I’d come over and see what you have been up to and try and find some answers to some questions I have.

But Holy Moly Batman! I am completely gobsmacked!  

You guys sure have been busy.  I had no idea how big and popular this thread was. I am very impressed.  

It would take me weeks to read through all your posts – although I have read some that totally cracked me up – so I’m hoping you’ll answer my questions for me here if that’s ok.

1) When did you sleuth that Lauren was F1 and how?

2) Was one girl more popular with the posters than the others?  I liked Lauren for Ben but would have picked JoJo and Becca to be my friends.

3) Who was the least popular contestant? I couldn’t stand Emily. I thought she was a bully.

4) What did you think of the Leah black eye situation? I thought I was so clever remembering that she had a black eye in the preview of very first episode and really thought she was going to come back as we didn’t see the black eye before Ben booted her.  Was there any other blatant TPTB lies like that?

5) It also came out that they changed the order of the FS and Lauren was actually last. That completely changed things for me. Did they do that any other time or deliberately manipulate the edit to mislead us?

6) Did you sleuth any gossip or relevant info about the contestants that they didn’t show on the season?

7) I have only watched the franchise for a year but I have seen “RS” pop up a couple of times on the unspoiled thread and to be perfectly honest I have no idea what a RS is. I have looked in the abbreviations section and it’s not there. It does sound deliciously ominous though – kind of like ‘she went all RS on his azz!” What exactly is a RS?

8) My all-time favourite part of the whole season (and yes that does include all the mushy lovely stuff on ATFR) was JoJo’s mum taking a swig out of the champagne bottle. That was just brilliant television! I laughed so hard I gave myself the hiccups. What did everyone else think of that moment?

Many thanks and I love forward to see what you have to say. I hope I've posted this in the right place - we only have one thread over in Unspoiledland!

And a quick hello to our lovely friends @GuardianAngel, @sophienette, @Linds911, @Rolly, @sprite, @AllAboutLove, @rhondam, @KB_Mom,  @Mommyof1, @nothatgirl, @avacaroline, @Seabear, @Ladybug82, @emusha, @Litta123, @peggy0221, @CarrieA  (didn’t realise we had so many friends in the unspoiled thread until I tried to name you all! – apologies if I have left someone out) and all the other posters who have been so supportive of us over on the unspoiled thread. Having you pop over and say hello really helped.

rs is reality steve who is the king of bachelor spoilers.