Sean Lowe and Catherine Giudici are the definition of "relationship goals" for a lot of people—including Ben Higgins.
ABC's new leading man has revealed that he looked to the franchise's former star and his wife for inspiration when deciding to do The Bachelor. In fact, he even reached out to Sean before making the decision.
"I did reach out to Sean because he is a man that I've always looked up to. I don't even think I watched his whole season, but just the way he carried himself during the show, post-show, it's something I can look up to," Ben told reporters on a conference call. "I wanted to reach out to him to hear how he went about it."
It's easy to see why Ben would ask Sean, who will appear in the season premiere on Jan. 4, for advice, seeing as he and Catherine are one of the franchise's few lasting relationships. And the the couple recently revealed they are expecting their first child together as Sean took to Instagram to announce their pregnancy news, sharing a photo holding his wife's tummy with the caption, "It's happening! I'm going to be a dad!" Soon after, Catherine followed up with a similar black and white picture, writing, "Hey Baby."
"Isn't that awesome," Ben said of their baby news. "I'm really happy for Sean and Catherine. I think they are a great representation to a lot of people of how a marriage works, how a relationship works. I know they were both a big influence in a positive way for me as I stepped into this experience. I think just in life we could all look at their relationship...that's nice to have, just unconditional love between two people."
But Sean wasn't the only former Bachelor Ben reached out to for advice before beginning his journey, revealing he also reached out to Chris Soules. "I think I wanted to hear his experience," he said. "Both of them had some incredibly encouraging things to say and they really helped me as I moved forward."
He added, "The Bachelor family is a great one. I'm learning more and more as I go how many incredible people, men and women, are involved."
The Bachelor premieres Monday, Jan. 4 on ABC.