While dating the women on season 20 of The Bachelor, it turns out the real reason for Ben Higgins‘ dramatic weight loss was completely different from what the show tried to make viewers believe at the time!
In a recent interview with Fubo Sports podcast Drinks With Binks, the 31-year-old former lead revealed he got extremely sick with a PARASITE and lost 30 pounds while filming the ABC reality dating series.
“The craziest thing that ever happened to me on this franchise, which I can speak to you openly [about] now, is I had a massive parasite the whole time I was on the show.”
Related: Rebel Wilson says People Didn’t ‘Look Twice’ At Her When She Was ‘Bigger’
Higgins, who starred in the franchise in 2016 after looking for love on Kaitlyn Bristowe‘s season of The Bachelorette, explained that he got the parasite right before filming started.
“I was in Honduras — which is a country I love — for a wedding. I get a parasite in my gut. It hits me the week that filming starts.”
YIKES! That’s probably not a good look for the show’s leading man to have a living, mooching organism in his body! And we’re sure the ladies probably wouldn’t have found that tidbit sexy at all. To be honest, it might have impacted his chances with the woman had the show been upfront about his sickness.
After shedding a ton of weight during the three months of filming, the Indiana native said his health issue was kept under wraps for years because he didn’t want the series to look bad. At the time, Ben kept blaming it on “an incredible stomach flu” and stress. However, he told host Julie Stewart-Binks that he doesn’t care anymore, saying:
“It was blamed on being stressed and anxious. You can’t really share this after the show because that isn’t a great look for The Bachelor, it’s not a great look for the contestants. It’s not a great look for the show that I was sick the whole time.”
Anyone else shocked that they let him keep filming? And didn’t think to send him to the doctor?? FYI, producers, that could have been a real dramatic moment for you guys to truly make “the most dramatic season ever!” In all seriousness, though, the show’s leaders really should have taken a step back from their “making television” mode and taken him to the hospital to get this checked out. It’s serious and honestly, really dangerous — more so than unexpectedly losing a ton of weight (which also can be super risky)!
It’s just another notch in the controversy belt with this show, which has recently come under fire for host Chris Harrison‘s defense of a current contestant’s past racist actions. But we all know how that ended, with audiences temporarily saying goodbye to the longtime ring leader.
The Bachelor Live host also shared how the parasite affected his one-on-one romantic dates, jokingly saying that he had to literally “run” away when he felt like he was going to lose his cookies.
“That’s the craziest story that I’ve kind of kept hidden.”
Wow… seriously that is insane!
In case you didn’t know, the television personality ended up proposing to Lauren Bushnell at the end of the show, but they broke their engagement off in May 2017. He has since moved on with his fiancée Jessica Clarke, while 31-year-old Lauren got hitched to country singer Chris Lane in October 2019. Back in December 2020, the couple announced they were expecting their first little one together.
Okay, Perezcious readers, what do U think about all of this? Are U shocked producers kept the parasite in Ben’s tum hush-hush? Sound OFF with your thoughts (below)!
[Image via Bachelor Nation/YouTube & Ben Higgins/Instagram]
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