PureDWTS Season 22: Ben Higgins Confirms He is NOT Doing DWTS, There is No 13th Couple
*shakes head* Normally I wouldn’t even feel the need to post this, but after the last 24 hours or so and some of the nonsense I’ve had to field on Twitter, I feel like it was necessary…
…despite suspicions from some fans that a surprise “13th couple” was getting added to this season’s already stellar lineup, and that Ben Higgins was going to announce this morning on GMA that he was joining the cast, he confirmed to Variety Magazine that he is definitely NOT doing DWTS this season:
Higgins says he will not compete on ABC’s reality dance competition because he wants to focus on his engagement — but he did allude to an offer.
“My focus is not on what’s next. It’s on Lauren and I. Any decision that was made post show was based on what was best for us, and I believe that what’s best for us is to really concentrate on what’s best for us and to really spend as much time together as possible,” Higgins said.
Asked by Variety if he received an actually offer, “The Bachelor” tried to explain, saying, “Right now, a lot of those requests come down through the ABC pipeline so, I don’t want to call it offers, but just people asking if I’m interesting comes down from a group that is separate that me. Was I asked? I’m sure it was talked about.”
However — the couple will be watching “DWTS.” They agreed, “It’s a great cast!”
For once, a Bachelor contestant seems to recognize that doing DWTS immediately after he & his lady go public is maybe not the best thing for their relationship – just ask Chris & Whitney. Kind of refreshing…even if he come across kinda dodgy & redundant saying it 😛
I guess I have to place just a bit of the blame for the hoopla on this picture that Jenna posted on Instagram, though, as it seemed to whip fans into a frenzy, thinking “she got a promo shot, that means she’s a pro!”
ETA: Oh looky…promo pic of the whole troupe. Makes it a bit less suspicious that Jenna got her own, eh?
Also seeming to incite speculation about a thirteenth couple: the fact that Emma has deleted this post she made last week explaining that she’s taking a season off from the show. I’m guessing she took it down due to some of the irrational rage from fans in the comments section, as Emma has always done a stellar job of keeping things low-key and drama-free…but of course, some interpreted it as “she took it down because she got a partner after all!”
Apparently pointing out that a) we’ve never had 13 couples in a spring season, b) there were none of the typical smoking guns (subtle-as-a-sledgehammer clues during the cast announcement, pictures taken at McCadden, leaks from other media sources), and c) none of my sources have seen Emma at McCadden for the past 2 weeks, or have heard anything about a 13th couple, makes me a big ol’, spirit-crushing meanie to some on Twitter. Gosh, facts are so inconvenient sometimes, aren’t they? 😛 Denial is not just a river in Egypt, folks, and I just don’t see the point in indulging some kinda childish fantasies when I know for a fact that there are no more additions to the cast.
So what do I make of all this? I think TPTB were keeping either Emma or Jenna (or even both) in their back pocket, just in case Ben did sign on – the last time we reported, he was waffling pretty heavily. Could explain why Jenna got a promo shot, and why Emma was seen rehearsing with the cast a few weeks back. However, as I told another Emma fan on Twitter – Emma’s a smart girl, and I think she may have recognized that potentially getting trouped was both a demotion and a pay cut, and likely not worth her time. She may have said “Y’know what? No thanks, I’ll sit this one out.” Which left Jenna – and then when Ben ended up passing on the offer, they just kept her in the troupe. This is all speculation on my part, but I think it makes sense. I don’t think we’ve seen the last of Emma, and I do think Jenna will eventually become a pro – it’s just not happening this season. It’s already gonna be a bit of a bloodbath, with so many big names this season – if Ben had signed on, I doubt he would have lasted very long, anyway, up against the likes of Antonio, Ginger, Von, etc.
Soooo…can we all agree that this season has 12 couples now? 🙂
Yes and amen to that, Court!!!
Seems like what happened to Chris Soules and his former fiancée may have put prospective Bachelor’s and Bachelorette’s off of doing DWTS. Kaitlyn Bristowe turned it down and now Ben Higgins. Wonder if JoJo will continue the new trend for S23. I say good on them, it can’t be easy for them to turn down over 6 figures in cash that doing DWTS brings in even if it is for the good of their relationship.
As much as I would have loved for Emma to be a pro (not so much Jenna), I’m glad a 13th couple wasn’t added. This cast is packed and at this point the only thing that would add to it would be an A-lister. Besides, if Ben wants his relationship to work he probably made the right choice.
@Jenny – The general gist I got was that people cared less about Ben and more about Emma or Jenna getting a partner – so that right there tells me he probably would not have lasted long 😛
I’m okay with Ben not doing the show and Jenna not being a pro… What upsets me the most about the troupe this season is Brittany not being there, especially with Jenna and Hayley being so outnumbered. Britt is such an amazing dancer and I bet she’d be a pretty decent teacher if she got to become a pro. I hope she and Emma both get to come back next season.
Well, consider The Bachelor/Bachelorette shooting schedule. It gets lost in the shuffle that The Bachelor is usually taped in the fall but airs in the Winter. Thus the Bachelor and the person he chooses have about 4 months or so before they can actually be seen in public. They can see each other in private, but they have to be very cautious (or not as shown by Kaitlyn/Shawn).
Generally speaking, at least the last two seasons, the finale of The Bachelor and After the Final Rose usually airs one or two weeks before the start of DWTS. That isn’t a lot of time for the couple to start working on their post-Bachelor relationship if he does DWTS.
Now, there is a chance that a Bachelorette could do DWTS since the air dates of that finale are around a month out from the start f DWTS in the fall, but I don’t think any Bachelorette recently has taken that offer.
And as someone brought up, all the Chris speculation may have put off most Bachelors, particularly if their person is in a different state.
If I remember correctly and someone can definitely correct me if I’m wrong, but when Sean did DWTS, Catherine was there for almost his entire time, so that might be why that worked out.
@Bia I could be wrong, but I think Brittany might still be in the troupe. Read on Twitter that she was at rehearsals yesterday. Hopefully she is anyway… having 4 male troupe members and only 2 females seems odd.
As for Ben, I’m glad he’s not on this season. Nothing against him personally, but I can’t stand that Bachelor/Bachelorette show. However, I do hope we see Emma back in future seasons. She will be missed.
@Amanda An official pic of the troupe has been released and Brittany isn’t included. She also confirmed it on Periscope.
@Justin – I think Sean & Catherine are also one of the few (possibly the only, except for Trista & Ryan) Bachelor couples that are still together to this day, which tells me they were probably already pretty solid heading into DWTS – but yeah, she was there every week. I wanna say she moved to L.A. for the duration of the show to be near him.
@Bia Brittany has been seen around the dwts rehearsal studios recently. However, Hayley hasn’t been seen yet and she seems to have confirmed she’s in the troupe on her Twitter just now. Who knows. DWTS is always messy with these kind of things lol
Does this Ben guy actually think he’s going to make it to the altar with his “eeny meeny miny moe” fiancee? How sweet and naive. Who knows, maybe they’ll beat the odds.
@Courtney The only other couple from the show that I can remember are still together are Jason Mesnick and Molly, but I’m not sure if that actually counts since he picked Melissa Rycroft and then changed his mind and picked runner-up Molly during ATFR.
But, yeah, I think Sean and Catherine were pretty solid, and I think Ben and Lauren might be, too. But I think he really wants this to work out and doesn’t want to ruin it via DWTS.
Des and her final pick are still together too, I believe.
Still, the odds are HORRIBLE – five couples (or so) out of 25+ seasons??
Catherine moved to Los Angeles also while Sean did DWTS. Even with that, Sean has stated, it was probably not the wisest thing they did. I saw an interview with him at the time, he said he and Catherine made the decision together for him to do DWTS because the money was so good to build a future with. He stated that he was practicing and doing publicity for the show that involved long hours so Catherine spent a lot of time alone. Not the best thing when you can finally be seen in public together. In one interview, it was discussed that Peta was going to teach them their first dance for their wedding and of course, she’d be at the wedding. She didn’t teach them their first dance and was not invited to their wedding. In the interview after the fact, Sean credited Catherine’s strength for them getting through DWTS. Sean has a blog and he has discussed this on there.
Yeah, it’s definitely not the best situation to be in, especially when you’ve had to do a lot of sneaking around for the first four months of your real relationship. Spending all that time in rehearsals and promo work would be a strain.
I do wonder, though, if most of them get an offer to do DWTS and a lot of them just turn it down. I seem to remember in an interview, Jillian Harris turned down DWTS after her season and said she regrets missing the opportunity (probably to build her design brand then) but she’s realized it might not have been the best idea. She ended up being cheated on anyway, and she’s not doing too bad for herself on Love It Or List It Vancouver.
I can see not wanting to look like a “fame whore” so to speak by jumping from one reality show to the next (Though, Sean and Catherine also did Celeb Wife Swap) when you’re really serious about your relationship.
But it must be so different and difficult when you’re meeting all these people in a structured environment where they’re planning dates for you and such and it’s more of a idealistic fantasy and then trying to find that same connection in the “real world.”
I watched the bachelor last night just to see who he would choose and even watching that I could see that he seems like he really is more into his fiancée than the limelight. Kinda impressed by that since a lot of past ones were not that way. Sidenote, I was hoping he would marry her on tv last night lol.
I am glad he isn’t on to be honest becuase he seems super Into his fiancée. Usually I’m thinking “that relationship isn’t going to last” but with these two I’m thinking the complete opposite.