Ben Higgins shares emotional details of proposal to Jessica Clarke

Ben Higgins is officially engaged–and sharing all the adorable details of his proposal to Jessica Clarke

Ben Higgins is undoubtedly a beloved Bachelor Nation alum. No matter how much time goes by, most fans find themselves rooting for him and invested in his relationship with girlfriend Jessica Clarke. Well, girlfriend turned fiance (hooray!) as of this week officially.

If you’ve been following Ben Higgins since his days on The Bachelor, then you may know all about how he met Jessica Clarke. He slid into her DMs back in 2018, and the rest, as we say, is history. The two have been together ever since and as happy as can be.

I realized how much fans love her when I went to The Bachelor: Live on Stage show in Mesa, Arizona. She was sitting a couple of seats over from me, and as soon as people began to realize it was her, they were squealing with excitement. And she was so kind and welcoming and receptive to all the fan love. In that moment, even I was smitten over her and Ben’s relationship–he picked a good one!

In an exclusive with PEOPLE, Higgins shared all the cute details about the proposal and how nervous and excited he was leading up to it. Given recent conditions, Higgins’ plans had to be moved around. Initially, he was going to propose in Central Park but switched to Clarke’s family home in Franklin, Tennessee given the circumstances.

"I had big plans to do this in Central Park while we were there for the [Bachelor Live] tour on March 21. […] we ended up in Franklin and I just thought, ‘Why not?’ And I would have been so stressed out if this landed three more months with this ring in my pocket!"

Don’t you just love spontaneous romance?!

The surprise proposal was almost spoiled by Ben Higgins because the emotions were running high. He didn’t anticipate doing it at that moment, but was able to pull it off and surprise her! Mission “Propose to Jessica” was a success (she said yes, don’t worry).

"I started crying before we even got to the place where I was going to propose. I was so nervous and it was really emotional. So then she started crying, not knowing why I was crying! But then I told her why I loved her and asked her to marry me. She was so shocked!"

Hearing about them crying makes me want to cry. I wish we could get a video of this proposal–it sounds all sorts of cute.

I mean just look at them, guys!

As I said before, Ben Higgins is a fan-favorite and Bachelor Nation was over-the-moon excited to find out he finally popped the big question. Having a connection with the alums is a fickle thing, and while some remain timeless, others do not.

In Higgins’ case, he instantly snuggled his way into our hearts once he took on the lead for The Bachelor season 20 (he was first introduced in The Bachelorette). While things didn’t pan out for him from the reality shows, it was nice to see they eventually did.

It always makes me so happy to see people in love, and this couple getting engaged is extra special for me. After having met Jessica at the live show, and seeing how warm and sweet she was, I knew Ben Higgins had picked the right girl for him.

Wishing Ben and Jessica a wonderful and happy life together!