Entertainment

'Ben & Lauren' Might Not Have A Season 2

by Hannah Shapiro

The Bachelor has blessed us with many amazing things. It has given us Chris Harrison with his sultry poker face and steady voice, euphemisms like the "Fantasy Suite," and it has delivered a variety of fun spinoffs. But, after its finale on Tuesday, will Ben And Lauren Happily Ever After return for Season 2? It doesn't seem super likely as the couple appears to want an off-camera relationship for awhile.

Any new couple faces pressure after getting together, but add a television crew and a lot of Internet opinions and it's a recipe for off-the-charts tension. Ben And Lauren Happily Ever After showed Bachelor couple Ben Higgins and Lauren Bushnell as a couple who not only disagreed on smaller things like where to live or how to decorate, but who couldn't see eye-to-eye on wedding plans. On a recent episode, Ben and Lauren even called off their TV wedding to focus on strengthening their relationship. That, combined with a low viewership (Life & Style reports that an average of 300,000 people tune in per episode) makes me think we won't see a season two of Ben and Lauren Happily Ever After. Of course, nothing has been confirmed so there is always the possibility it returns. It did debut as the network's number one reality series.

Freeform pulled out all the stops for its Bachelor spinoff show. Ben and Lauren Happily Ever After featured a variety of past bachelor contestants including farmer and former Bachelor Chris Soules, new Bachelor in Paradise couple Lace Morris and Grant Kemp, Bachelorette bad boy Chad Johnson, and even Bachelor twins Haley and Emily Ferguson. Aside from the return of these fun Bachelor contestants, the show also packed in a lot of drama. Chris Harrison made an appearance to offer Ben and Lauren a televised wedding. This became the crux of the show: Whether or not the couple would get married on TV. Their decision to slow down and not immediately accept a TV wedding might be a sign that the couple won't be returning to their spinoff show either.

Even the press the pair has been doing indicates a desire to step back from television. An interview Ben did with Extra revealed that they want to focus on being a real couple, not a reality couple.

The show is stressful. It's hard. You're having somebody around you or up in your business a lot of the day. And Lauren and I then watch ourselves back and people are critical or they maybe celebrate us more than they should. The one thing I've learned is that Lauren and I really need to focus on taking time as a couple to do things. To do activities outside of anybody else.

This feels like the sentiment of a couple ready to be out of the limelight for a bit. I don't blame them. They've spent a huge chunk of their relationship being followed around by a camera crew. While this can be profitable, it can also be stressful. Whether this couple leaves the spotlight or jumps back in it, I wish them the best. If we don't have TV love to believe in, what's left?

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