Ben Higgins has done his best impression of Donald Trump.
No, The Bachelor alum has not closed our borders to refugees desperately in need of a safe home.
Nor has he nominated someone for Secretary of Education who is less qualified for that position that Kim Kardashian would be as host of the Academy Awards.
Nor has he… nevermind. We could play this game for hours.
But Higgins has gone ahead and used one of Trump’s favorite terms in shooting down a story about his alleged split from Lauren Bushnell.
Despite the pair getting engaged at the conclusion of The Bachelor Season 20, Us Weekly wrote on Wednesday that “a breakup has been coming for awhile.”
The tabloid then quoted an anonymous source who said the following about Ben and Lauren:
“They don’t get along. She’s told people recently how hard it is.”
“He’s a great guy, but they should split.”
Us Weekly also cited recent trips to Nashville and Mexico that Bushnell took without Higgins as evidence that the romance was fading.
On the latter vacation, based on her own Instagram story, Bushnell did NOT appear to be wearing her engagement ring.
But Higgins has now fired back against the publication, sharing a lengthy caption to the photo above that takes Us Weekly to task for printing such nonsense.
“No need to respond often to rumors or ‘fake news’ but the feeling I have in this picture is the same feeling I have for this girl today,” he wrote on Instagram along with a snapshot of his arms around Bushnell.
Added Higgins:
“We have entered into a world where rumors will exist we know that, but just know as @laurenbushnell celebrates her birthday tomorrow I am still extremely lucky to be able to share life with her and be by her side.”
(The post was written yesterday, meaning today is Bushnell’s birthday. So… happy birthday, Lauren Bushnell!)
We’re all for Higgins standing up for the truth and slamming baseless tabloid accusations in the process.
But Higgins and Bushnell do need to understand why so many breakup rumors follow them around.
They aren’t exactly the most stable couple in the history of Hollywood.
For starters, you need not visit our section of The Bachelor spoilers to be aware that nearly every couple who gets together on this show eventually breaks up.
More specifically, Higgins actually called off his wedding to Higgins in November.
On an episode of their utterly ridiculous reality show, Ben claimed he was very much in love with Lauren. He just wasn’t ready to marry her.
“You’re the woman of my dreams,” Higgins said at the time, as Bushnell shed many tears. “The last thing I want to do is for us to rush that…
“This thing sped up real fast, and we haven’t had a second to breathe. Now it’s time not to rush anything else.”
Why actually call of a wedding? Why not just plan is slowly and set a date far off in the future?
Either because real feelings are not there… or because the couple needed a storyline for a potential second season.
Not long after this episode aired and Ben’s engagement cancelation went public, Higgins spoke to Entertainment Tonight and said everything was totally fine between him and Lauren.
“We are together, happier than ever – no plans to break up!” he told the outlets late last year, and later told E! News of the new year:
“2017 I hope is the year that we have huge steps in either getting married or having a really good idea of when we’re getting married, but right now we don’t.”
So, to summarize:
– The couple has no plans to breakup.
– But they have no plans to get married, either.
– They don’t even have plans to talk about when they might get married.
– Freeform has not yet renewed their reality series for a second season.
We’re just gonna come right out and say it:
This relationship will not end well.
