On the eve of Valentine's Day, students gathered in Baker Center to hear from one of the leads of the most prominent dating show in America, Ben Higgins, from ABC's "The Bachelor."
Higgins first made his appearance in 2015 as a contestant on Kaitlyn Bristowe's season of "The Bachelorette" and later became the Bachelor in 2016.
Brought in by the University Programming Council, or UPC, Higgins spent the night talking about his experience as the Bachelor, answering prepared questions while also leaving time for a Q+A session where fans got to ask Higgins any questions they wanted.
He was able to elaborate on what the show was like behind the scenes as well as explain what his life looked like before the show and what it looked like now.
Although he did not end up staying in a relationship with Lauren Bushnell, the show's finalist, Higgins now has a wife and a dog and lives in Denver, Colorado, he said.
Higgins talked about his work with Generous Coffee, a brand he co-founded that gives all of its profits to non-profit organizations, and about his podcast, "Almost Famous."
At the end of the event, Higgins took time to take pictures with the fans and have short conversations or answer any lingering inquiries.
Reagan Goldberg, a senior studying restaurant and hotel tourism as well as hospitality management and UPCl's president, was the event host and said she really enjoyed interviewing Higgins as he was her favorite Bachelor.
"I'm a big fan of 'The Bachelor,'" she said. "He's actually my favorite Bachelor so I was super excited to hear that he was within budget and we could have him."
She said she had been watching the show since Juan Pablo Galavis' season, which aired in 2014, so she is definitely a part of "Bachelor Nation."
Goldberg said UPC has put on an event around "The Bachelor" for the past four years, and she was really enthusiastic when they were able to bring in Higgins for the event. She said other celebrities brought in from the show have included Blake Horstmann, Peter Weber – better known as "Pilot Pete" – and Mike Johnson.
She said that she believed tonight was very successful and that the turnout for the Q+A was a lot bigger than what she had expected.
"Everyone seems to really love him," she said. "He was great. I just think overall everything went according to plan and that's all we can really ask for."
She showed Higgins around campus and even took him to her sorority house and out to dinner at 27 S. Court St.'s very own Bagel Street Deli where Higgins ordered a "Seinfeld Secret," she said.
Goldberg said meeting Higgins was an amazing opportunity and showing him around Athens was a really special experience.
"Ben is amazing and go Bachelor Nation," she said.
Emily Sebring, a sophomore studying visual communications, said although she had never seen Ben's season of "The Bachelor," she liked being able to hear more information about the show.
Sebring said hearing more about the stories from behind the scenes was a cool experience.
"I think it was fun, it was really interesting," Sebring said.
Maddy Smith, a sophomore studying marketing, said she has been watching the show since Higgin's season.
Smith said that she preferred earlier seasons, like Higgin's season of the show, which were mostly focused on the lead finding love, whereas now the show is focused more on drama. She said, however, she still enjoyed watching the show even now.
She said learning about the behind-the-scenes of the show and getting background information was really fun.
"I was really interested in how he was able to memorize everyone's names on night one," Smith said.
She said that overall she was really happy to have gone and to have met Higgins.
"This was a really cool experience," Smith said.
