Ben Higgins engaged to Jessica Clarke — Here’s how coronavirus changed The Bachelor star’s proposal

The Bachelor alum Ben Higgins is officially engaged to girlfriend Jessica Clarke.

Entertainment Tonight reports that Ben asked his longtime girlfriend to marry him, and while it wasn’t the way he originally wanted to do it, the proposal was still really special. Now, the engaged couple has a wedding to plan.

Ben had a different proposal in mind

Initially, Ben Higgins planned to ask Jessica Clark to marry him in New York City. He had it all worked out when The Bachelor: Live on Stage made a tour stop in NYC.

However, with coronavirus taking a toll on the U.S., the tour has been paused, causing Ben to change up his initial plan for a big proposal in the Big Apple.

Here’s how Ben proposed instead

The silver lining for Ben and Jessica is that the way he proposed may have turned out to be much, much sweeter.

Ben and Jessica have been quarantining together at his family’s house, but on Friday, they broke that quarantine to visit her parents in Franklin, Tennessee.

It turns out, they were in on the proposal plan and helped get everything ready for an unforgettable visit.

“I went back to a pond behind her house, and we had set it up with sunflowers near a bench,” Ben told Lauren Zima from Entertainment Tonight. “It’s right in their backyard, but a little hidden. I proposed, and her family and mine were watching from a distance, and then we all celebrated together.”

“I was super nervous. She’s my best friend, my partner and I love her. I was nervous to kind of do this whole thing in front of her. I wasn’t anxious, it’s just a big moment!”

It turns out that the proposal was a total surprise for Jessica, who nearly derailed the second plan because she initially didn’t want to go for a walk with Ben.

But as they walked behind her family’s home, she saw what was waiting for her and knew something big was about to happen.

“She said it was one of two things: either I was ending our relationship, which would have been a huge shock… or I was proposing.” Thank goodness it was the latter!

Of course, Jessica said yes and even shared pictures from their special moment.

Ben and Jessica went public with their relationship just over a year ago in February 2019 though Bachelor fans began speculating about the pair months earlier.

Ben’s Bachelor background

Ben Higgins rose to fame after competing for Kaitlyn Bristowe’s heart on The Bachelorette in 2015. He went on to become The Bachelor and then became engaged to Lauren Bushnell.

The pair stayed together long enough to land their own spinoff on Freeform called Ben & Lauren: Happily Ever After? After their split, which was the most searched breakup of 2017, Ben returned to Bachelor Nation to compete on Bachelor Winter Games.  Lauren has also moved on. 

The Bachelor is currently on hiatus and is expected to return early next year.