Last week I was invited to California by Walt Disney Studios (Disclosure: The Trip was All Expenses Paid).

While on the trip I was the sole male blogger among 24 lovely women bloggers. While much of the trip was geared towards the Doctor Strange movie we also spent time at the Disney Channel Studios. When we were there we met Ben Higgins and Lauren Bushnell of ABC’s THE BACHELOR but more importantly, now, of Freeform’s BEN & LAUREN: HAPPILY EVER AFTER? (Tuesdays 8/7c on Freeform).

We were treated to a nice lunch where we could regroup after our busy morning. Then it was off to a screening room where we watched the second episode of BEN & LAUREN: HAPPILY EVER AFTER?. I have never watched THE BACHELOR by choice. I’m just not a reality show kind of guy, but I gave this a shot. I understand the basic gist of what is going on here.

Ben and Lauren were on THE BACHELOR and Ben proposed to Lauren. But…, apparently, he told both Lauren and JoJo that he loved them. Hold up. We better get some closure on that chapter of Ben’s life before things can really move forward with Lauren.

Ben and Lauren have an awkward lunch with JoJo and her guy, I forget his name but JoJo is the important one here. Are there still feelings between Ben and JoJo? More awkwardness. Finally, it is revealed that feelings for each other are only those of friendship, Ben and Lauren can move forward in their lives together.

It is time to go back home and everything is moving along nicely. Lauren is pranking Ben every chance she gets and then there is a knock at the door. Ben goes to answer it and there is a Date Card on a card table inviting Ben and Lauren to meet with Chris from THE BACHELOR. You are going to see many people from THE BACHELOR dropping by during the episodes. Chis proposes to Ben and Lauren that they get married on TV in a big budget ceremony. Ben is hesitant, is this going to make their wedding less about them and their family and friends? Lauren is now worried that because Ben seems hesitant that may not want to marry her. The drama unfolds through the rest of the episode. Will they take this huge expensive wedding deal or not?

However, we do not find out. Not yet. Instead we learn that Ben is a big Ren Faire geek and even has his own costume. It is unclear how many of these he has been to in his lifetime but apparently not enough to know what a Rampart is. This is important later, but only to me.

Lauren lays out one huge prank on Ben. She pulls in the Colorado Rockies for the prank. Ben was scheduled to throw out the first pitch at a game but Lauren convinced the team to play along that Ben would also be singing the National Anthem. This is Ben’s biggest fear. Then we are subjected to Ben’s singing for the rest of the episode and thank goodness a middle school choir was the actual guest singers of the National Anthem.

Remember the ramparts? Well, while Ben was practicing the National anthem it came up that did not know what they were. They are part of a castle! Castles? Ren Faires? Was I the only one who noticed this? I think I was. Well, I asked him abut it when I had my photo taken with he and Lauren after the Q & A session that we had immediately after viewing the episode. We had a little laugh over it.

In the Q & A session we talked with Ben and Lauren about what it was like filming the show. Ben said that while filming they are constantly talking to each other because no one wants to watch them just sit on a couch. The tough thing about all that talking is that once the cameras go home for the night he and Lauren are all talked out and have nothing left to say. Ben said.

BEN: One thing to remember, as you watch BEN & LAUREN: HAPPILY EVER AFTER?. We have a really good relationship, and I think we’re trying to do things the right way, and trying to take time. But, one of the hardest parts is that you’re together 24/7. Lauren and I just worked together, in a sense, since July. We wake up, and we start doing whatever we’re going to do, and the cameras are around, and we’re talking to each other, and we’re communicating to each other. Everything that we’re doing in life is shared, and I don’t think that’s healthy for a relationship.

LAUREN: Yeah.

BEN: I think we started to feel that at the end. Some nights at eight o’clock, when the cameras would leave, we don’t have anything to talk about. [LAUGHTER] We don’t want to talk to each other. We just talked to each other all day.

LAUREN: Yeah. [CHUCKLES]

BEN: I would say that one of the hardest things with BEN & LAUREN: HAPPILY EVER AFTER?, was the fact that Lauren and I had to be togeth– and I like being around her. I’ve told her this. I don’t like being around her 24/7. I don’t like being around myself sometimes 24/7. So that was definitely a struggle at times, for us. But it’s just part of it. And we got through it.

After the Q&A we all took photos with Ben and Lauren. That is when I good-naturedly ribbed Ben about not knowing what a rampart was. Especially after going to Renaissance Faires since he was a kid. While I’m still not a convert to a reality show fan I thought that Ben and Lauren were very gracious with all of us.

Ben and Lauren also talked about the many pranks that Lauren has pulled, some went off well. However, Ben is starting to get wise to her ways and he does catch her trying to prank him. Of course, that did not happen in the clip below.

“Ben and Lauren: Happily Ever After?” – Lauren Pranks Ben

If you are a fan of THE BACHELOR and want to see what happens next then you can check out BEN & LAUREN: HAPPILY EVER AFTER? (Tuesdays 8/7c on Freeform)

Right before we screened the second episode of BEN & LAUREN: HAPPILY EVER AFTER? we watched short featurette about the other reality show on Freeform called “The Letter”.

The Letter with Zelda Williams

“The Letter” is a bold, new relationship show that asks the simple question: “If you could anonymously tell your best friend in a letter the things that he or she really needed to hear, would you do it?” In each stand-alone episode, four friends draw names and anonymously write to the selected person a thoughtful, yet totally honest letter outlining their opinion of what needs to be changed in order to improve and transform their friend’s life for the better. For one week, each “reader” must follow all the rules and instructions outlined in the letter – culminating in a dramatic and emotionally charged meeting where the authors of each letter reveal themselves to their best friends. The series is narrated by actress Zelda Williams (“Dead of Summer”).

You can follow BEN & LAUREN: HAPPILY EVER AFTER? on Social Media.

BEN & LAUREN: HAPPILY EVER AFTER? on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BenandLaurenHappilyEverAfter/

BEN & LAUREN: HAPPILY EVER AFTER? on Twitter: https://twitter.com/BenandLaurenTV or the hashtag (#BenandLauren)

BEN & LAUREN: HAPPILY EVER AFTER? on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/benandlaurentv/

You can follow Ben Higgins on Social Media

Ben on Twitter: https://twitter.com/benhiggi

Ben on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/higgins.ben/

You can also follow Lauren Bushnell on Social Media

Lauren on Twitter: https://twitter.com/LaurenBushnell3

Lauren on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/laurenbushnell/