Sean Lowe on How The ‘Bachelor’ Franchise Could Produce Better Couples (Exclusive)
Sean and Catherine Lowe arearguably the most successful couple in Bachelor history. They're the only example of a Bachelor proposing to a woman on the reality show and marrying her, and they're even still hitched! ET spoke with them on the phone as they geared up to celebrate their four-year wedding anniversary in January.
"First, you have to commit," Sean says of the secret to their marital success. "Especially coming off of a show like The Bachelor. You’re being pulled in 1,000 different directions and you have to ... make each other your No. 1 priority."
"It takes a lot of work," he continues. "Surround yourself with good people, good couples you can look up to and ask advice from. ... As a married man you alter your ways and do what you can to please your spouse. I think we both do a good job of that. It’s all about committing through good times or bad. ... Breaking up is never an option."
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And Lowe has an idea for how his beloved franchise might be able to up its marital success rate, though he admits his plan is a bit of "pot calling the kettle black."
"If they could clean up the social media aspect ... [and] we do our fair share, but if you were to contractually obligate these people to lay off for a year or so, I think it might produce better couples or contestants," he says. "I get the feeling people are going on it to get an Instagram following and make money any way they can, and I think that’s harmed the show."
The Texan remembers having a clause in his Bachelor contract about social media. "Twitter was more relevant than Instagram back then," he says. "But if I recall correctly they didn’t want me on it at all when the show was airing and I don’t think i could promote anything either."
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Today, Bachelor contestants and leads are prevalent on Instagam, Twitter and Snapchat as their seasons air. (At times this has been quite problematic; spoilers have been revealed.)
"As far as casting goes, they’ve got it down to a science," Sean says of production. "They know if they cast half the women who are legitimate matches and the other half are probably just going to be entertaining TV."
Sean and Catherine admit though that, even though they're a success story, they didn't go on the show necessarily looking for marriage.
"Neither one of us signed [ourselves] up," Catherine says. "Sean’s sister signed him up [and] my best friend put my application online without me knowing. Once we got the calls, we were like, 'Why not?' ... I did know I’d only go one if it were Sean because I'd watched [Emily Maynard's season of The Bachelorette] and no offense[new Bachelor] Arie [Luyendyk Jr.], but he wasn’t my type! ... Neither one of us expected anything more than just a fun story and adventure. We had that but we got so much more."
Now, the pair is expecting their second child, with Catherine due in spring 2018. Their son Samuel is 18 months old and hitting big milestones.
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"He pretty much eats whatever we eat [now]," Lowe says. That includes one of their family favorites; pasta with fresh ground beef and Bertolli Rustic pasta sauce. "We’ll do baby food sporadically throughout the day but when we sit down to dinner he’ll eat what we have, and he loves pasta and loves the Bertolli sauce. He really enjoys trying new food, [and we love] to find out what he likes and doesn’t.”
As for The Bachelor, Lowe's pal, Luyendyk, is now taking up the mantle for season 22. Lowe's spoken to him and knows how things ended. So, will Luyendyk be a success story like his friend?
"I obviously can’t give anything away," Lowe says. "But I talked to him as soon as he got back, and we both just kind of laughed at how absurdly draining that whole process is. It’s so physically exhausting and I think he’s glad to be done, home and back to the real world. … I can’t say how it ends up but I’m eager to watch it unfold on TV! He’ll be a good Bachelor; I’m excited to see how he handled himself and what the public response is."
For one major reveal on how the race car driver handled himself, watch our interview with him below!
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