Ben Higgins Is Not Too Young To Be 'The Bachelor'

In a dozen seasons of The Bachelor, the Bachelors themselves have ranged from serious and ready to settle down to playboys who seemingly used the cast as a chance to hook up with lots of different women. So, where does the new Bachelor fall on that scale — is Ben Higgins too young to be on The Bachelor and take it seriously? Ben was 25 and turned 26 when he was on Kaitlyn Bristowe's season of The Bachelorette, and he thought he was way too young for the star. He even lied to her abut being 25 because he thought she would be uncomfortable dating someone that age when she was 30. In the end, Kaitlyn and Ben didn't wind up working out, but his age didn't really seem to affect the relationship, because he does seem pretty mature.

In an interview with People, Ben said that he wants to settle down. "Ideally at the end of this, I will be proposing. That would be a really cool thing," Ben told the magazine. And Kaitlyn agreed that Ben is prepared to think about marriage, even though he's young. "He's a well-rounded guy, he knows what he wants. And even though he's 26, he's a mature kind of 26," she told People.

But in order to prove it, here's a side-by-side comparison between Ben's young age and the other Bachelors when they were on the show, both successful and unsuccessful, that proves once and for all that it's not the age that makes a Bachelor ready to settle down — its his personality.

Chris Soules, 33

Farmer Chris was already in his early 30s when he filmed the show, and while he came across as stable, ready for marriage, and proposed to Whitney at the end of the season, they wound up calling off the engagement within a few months of the finale. So not even age and stability can predict love.

Juan Pablo Galavis, 32

Juan Pablo is another over-30 Bach, and everyone knows how badly that turned out. He simply did not want to settle down, and played the whole cast with his duplicitousness.

Sean Lowe, 28

Sean and Catherine still have a successful marriage, and even recently announced that they're expecting a child! Since Sean was a little bit younger than most Bachelors, he was an open-hearted goofball throughout the whole season, and it wasn't surprising at all that he wound up finding the love of his life.

Ben Flajnik, 28

And even though Sean and Ben were the exact same age, he wound up choosing Courtney Robertson despite some obvious red flags, and their relationship fell apart immediately. Ben does have a new girlfriend now, though. Still plenty of time for the winemaker to settle down.

Brad Womack, 35 & 38

Brad was the Bachelor with one of the most complicated relationships in the history of the show, with his first unsuccessful run, and then his return and breakup/reunion/marriage/breakup with Emily Maynard. According to Wetpaint, Brad is close to being the oldest Bachelor ever, but at 40 years old at the time of filming, Byron Velvick takes that honor.

Jesse Palmer, 26

Had to throw this guy in as the only Bachelor who's the same age as Ben Higgins. Not a great omen that the only other 26 year-old wound up leaving the show without proposing and breaking up with his final choice.

Although, Ben Higgins might turn out to be a special case. Most of the pairs on The Bachelor wind up splitting, with only a few successful marriages among them. But Ben seems serious enough to make a relationship last if that's what he wants.

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Image: Felicia Graham/ABC