Ben Smith is the cute, quiet and a bit nerdy guy on The Bachelorette this season.
It’s clear that he has a big heart and he wants to make a great impression with Tayshia Adams, but it’s also clear that he’s not as confident and cocky as some of the other guys.
For this season, he’s faded into the background a bit, as the troublemakers and obnoxious guys have stolen the spotlight.
But on Tuesday’s episode of The Bachelorette, Ben opened up about an eating disorder that he struggled with for a long time.
He did this to connect with Tayshia and to let her in.
Bachelorette’s Ben Smith opened up about eating disorder
Fans were proud of him for speaking out about his struggle. It’s taboo for men to talk about eating disorders and Tayshia was proud of him for sharing his personal secrets.
“The life I’ve lived is different than what you might assume,” he told Tayshia on The Bachelorette. “I had an eating disorder for 15 years.”
“I found out what girls were when I was 15,” he continued. “I realized they don’t like the fat kid. And so I stopped eating, started working out all the time. Lost like, 70 lbs. Had bulimia for like, 10 years and I was in my 20s. It’s hard to hide something for so long.”
He now works as a personal trainer and on the show, he credited his sister for saving him.
She intervened and helped him get back on track.
Ben Smith stripped down on The Bachelorette
Prior to his admission that he struggled with an eating disorder, Ben was part of a group date where the guys were asked to create art pieces. Ben didn’t feel that his artwork was worth sharing, so he decided to strip down and show off his emotional side.
It was clearly a daring move.
He opened up about his decision on the Bachelor Happy Hour podcast with Becca Kufrin and Rachel Lindsay.
“Taking my clothes off was a literal and figurative dropping of my guard,” Ben explained. “And maybe [Tayshia] caught a glimpse of me or maybe she didn’t, I don’t know. But it wasn’t about being naked, it was about removing this barrier that I had up.”
Some of the other guys were shocked that he would drop everything, but he reveals that this was more about letting Tayshia in and telling her that he wasn’t scared of putting himself on the line.
It worked. He wasn’t sent home.
The Bachelorette airs Tuesdays at 8/7c on ABC.