The Bachelor star Ben Higgins, 29, has definitely noticed all the publicity surrounding his 28-year-old ex Lauren Bushnell‘s new relationship with Chris Lane, 34, and since it’s a reminder that his relationship with Lauren is really over, he can’t help but feel truly upset about it all. “Ben is of course bothered by seeing his ex Lauren out and about so happy with new boyfriend Chris Lane,” a source EXCLUSIVELY told HollywoodLife. “The fact that it’s all happening so publicly hurts Ben. He’s really had trouble moving on from Lauren and the relationship as he truly struggled deciding if he wanted to be the next Bachelor again or not. Ultimately, he found himself too brokenhearted over the relationship not working out to sign back up.”
Ben and Lauren used to be the “it” Bachelor couple so it’s no surprise that he would feel such devastation over the split. The former couple broke things off in May 2017 and now that Lauren has moved on and seems thrilled about her new beau, Ben is feeling pretty lonely. “This is a huge hit to the gut to Ben as he’s really struggled finding someone who sparked him quite like Lauren,” the source continued. “He’s tried dating in different cities, different girls, you name it, he’s just truly having trouble finding the one and seeing Lauren so happy and public with yet another relationship is hard for him. He’s telling friends how he really wants to focus on finding a new woman in his life. He wants to be in a relationship and have the fairytale so badly, and watching Lauren from afar is just heartbreaking for him.”
Before Lauren started dating Chris, she was seen with L.A. native Devin Antin, 29, back in Aug. 2017. Although she’s clearly been moving on in the romance department since her split from Ben, Ben has been doing quite the opposite and working on his career. He started a coffee company called Generous Coffee and has been focusing on that for a while. Many fans hope he returns to The Bachelor and it turns out it’s actually a possibility in the future. “He’s open to the process and really believes that he can find true love on the show,” an insider previously told us.