Now that former lead Ben Higgins has married someone outside of the franchise, he doesn't want ABC using clips from his Ben slid into Jessica Clarke's Instagram DMs after his time on the show, and the pair got married in November 2021.
The "Almost Famous" podcast host walked so Clayton could run. Ben went down in the Bachelor history books when he told both of his final 2 women, Lauren Bushnell and JoJo Fletcher, that he loved them. Never before had a lead expressed being in love when there were still multiple contestants in the running for the final rose. An already controversial confession, the former Bachelor caught even more heat when he ultimately blindsided JoJo with a breakup after claiming he was in love with her. Ben ended his season engaged to Lauren, but their fairytale romance couldn't withstand the fallout of Ben's multiple I love you's.
Now a newly married man and with his Bachelor days behind him, Ben is calling out the franchise for continuing to use footage from his time on the show. On his podcast Almost Famous hosted alongside former Bachelor contestant Ashley Iaconetti, Ben said he was surprised and unhappy to see his old clips still being used to promote the dramatic ending of Clayton's season. "I haven't had a producer text me in three years. They don't give me any heads-up anymore. And then I just saw a preview of my proposal [to Lauren] during The Bachelor [finale teaser], and I was like, 'Come on, guys. I'm married, like, can we stop ABC?'"
But as Ben acknowledged on his podcast, ABC can use anything from his time on the show: It comes with the territory of g up to be The Bachelor. Ben shared he's worked hard to move past his Bachelor relationship with Lauren and begin a fresh chapter with his wife, so he doesn't enjoy seeing his old footage. "It still makes me cringe. I'm like, 'Gosh damnit, I don't want to watch myself with another human.' That's not where my mind is at." The podcast host hopes ABC will respect his new chapter of life and not show any footage that could cause "drama" or "ruin his [new] marriage."
But what better way to tease Clayton's intense finale than calling back to the first time the multiple L bomb dilemma occurred in Bachelor history? While it may be hard for Ben to relive his mistakes, the show ultimately gave him the platform to meet his wife Jess. The former Bachelor should just accept that he will always be tied to the franchise, for better or for worse.