Ben

Ben Higgins Just Made Things Instagram Official With Girlfriend Jessica Clarke

Don’t expect to see Ben Higgins looking for love on TV again anytime soon. After recently revealing that he had started dating someone new, the reality star has made things Instagram official with his new girlfriend, Jessica Clarke.

“I’ve been selfishly keeping this girl to myself for too long!” Higgins wrote on Instagram on Wednesday, February 20. “Hey friends meet @jessclarke_! I successfully slid into her DMs a few months ago. I took a risk and I am glad I did.”

The Bachelor season 20 star also shared a photo of himself with Clarke. In the cute snap, he has his arm around her shoulders and is smiling at her as she looks at the camera. “She is someone special, and I look forward to where life is going to take us,” he continued. “Stay tuned for the journey.”

Clarke posted the photo on Instagram, too, calling Higgins her “secret boyfriend” and saying he “has one of the biggest hearts and kindest spirits.” The picture was taken in Honduras during a trip with Higgins’ coffee-based charity, Generous Coffee Co.

Higgins, who split from fiancée Lauren Bushnell in 2017, first revealed he was dating someone new last month, in a January episode of his Ben and Ashley I. Almost Famous podcast. He later added that he wanted to keep details private for the time being to avoid the “pressure” that comes with dating in the public eye.

While not much is known about Clarke, it seems the couple are now eager to share their lives with Higgins’ fans. As Clarke wrote on Instagram, she’s “excited for many more adventures!”

What do you think of Ben’s reveal? Let us know @BritandCo!

(Photo via David Crotty/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images)

Ben Higgins and Girlfriend Jessica Clarke Make Their Relationship Instagram Official

Ben Higgins is ready to introduce his girlfriend to the world.

After much excitement and anticipation, The Bachelor fan-favorite took to social media on Wednesday afternoon to make his relationship with Jessica Clarke Instagram official.

"I've been selfishly keeping this girl to myself for too long! Hey friends meet @jessclarke_!" he wrote to his followers. "I successfully slid into her DM's a few months ago. I took a risk and I am glad I did. She is someone special, and I look forward to where life is going to take us."

Ben continued, "Stay tuned for the journey. In addition, this picture was taken this week in Honduras. I got to spend some time with an incredible group of people from all over the USA on a @generous_coffee_ adventure. Life is good!"

In this week's episode of Ben's iHeartRadio podcast, his co-host Ashley Iaconetti revealed that Jessica will be a guest on the Almost Famous show this coming Monday.

"This is the most fantastic, heartwarming thing! I'm so happy for you!!!" Ashley shared in the comments section. Wells Adams added, "#HottyToddy."

Back in January, Ben first revealed on his podcast that he had been dating someone and was currently in a long-distance relationship.

As he tried to keep her identity under the radar, those close to him stayed loyal but also revealed how happy he was.

"Everybody is buzzing about this. No [I haven't met her], but I know that they've been going back and forth on flights to see each other over the past couple of months," Ashley revealed to E! News at OK! Magazine's Pre-Grammys party. "He definitely seems very happy."

So who is Ben's new love? Let's take a look at everything we know about Jessica so far!

1. She's an Ole Miss Alum: Jessica recently graduated from Ole Miss with a Bachelor's Degree in Integrated Marketing and Communications, according to her LinkedIn. She took to Instagram in May to share pictures from her graduation.

"My time at Ole Miss taught me that I have no control over my life and man am I thankful for that!" she captioned the post. "It wasn't what I expected, but it was far better. Thanks for my best friends."

2. She Has Two Brothers: Jessica posted a photo to Instagram with her brothers at Ole Miss. "Last game day as a Landshark and I got BOTH of my brothers with me in my favorite place, best day ever...hotty toddy," she captioned the social media snap.

3. She Appears to Have a Dog Name Rex: Jessica shared a sweet picture with her pup on Instagram over the summer.

"Rex came to watch his cousin play, but he's blind so he's just listening," she captioned the post.

4. She Runs Marathons: Jessica posted a photo after completing the Rock 'n' Roll Nashville Marathon in 2017.

"Came out of retirement for my city," she wrote alongside the picture.

5. She Works at Valet Energy in Nashville: Jessica's LinkedIn shows that she's been working as a Key Account Manager at Valet Energy for several months.

As for Jessica's grand reveal on Instagram, she kept things short but oh-so-sweet.

"My secret boyfriend, Ben!" she shared on social media. "He has one of the biggest hearts and kindest spirits, I got to share Honduras with him this past week and I'm excited for many more adventures!" Too cute!

Ben Carson’s Big Plan to Help Low-Income Americans Has “Gone Nowhere”

Still has some work to do.

The Washington Post

Ben Carson’s first two years as the secretary of Housing and Urban Development have not gone particularly well. Last February, the same month the administration proposed cutting billions from an agency whose mission is to help the homeless, poor, and elderly, it emerged that Carson had spent $31,561 on a new dining-room set for his office. As dozens of legacy staffers flee the scene, the former presidential candidate is reportedly replacing them with people who have zero housing-policy experience, installing at least 16 in high-paying positions. There are Carson’s many verbal slipups, such as his description of Africans sent to America on slave ships as “immigrants,” and his now-infamous line about poverty being a “state of mind.” Some of this could perhaps be overlooked, if it turned out Carson was actually doing an effective job for the people his agency is designed to protect. But, as it turns out, his actual work for HUD hasn’t been going so hot, either.

NBC News reports that Carson’s signature initiative, the EnVision Centers project, which seeks to establish spaces for low-income families to obtain job training, health-care services, and education, has “gone nowhere.” Carson has been openly enthusiastic about the project, hyping it in Cabinet meetings, testimony to Congress, and per NBC, “at least 20 media interviews.” “There’s a verse in the Bible that says, without a vision people perish,” he said in a TV interview in June. “There have been a lot of people who have really lost a vision of the promise of America.”

And yet, eight months after unveiling the initiative, not one center has opened . . . which might have something to do with the fact that, apparently, Carson has failed to provide much detail.

“No one actually knows what they are supposed to do,” said Chad Williams, executive director of the Southern Nevada Regional Housing Authority, which includes Las Vegas where the affordable housing crisis is severe. “I was approached to run one, and I said: ‘What does it do? Where’s the funding?’”

Williams says he declined to participate after finding out there was no money attached. “EnVision Centers are a failed policy perception,” Williams said. “I guess they give the image that HUD is doing something.”

At proposed centers around the country, staffers say any work that is happening appears to be a rebranding of previous housing-authority services. While a phone app was created to “showcase” the centers, naturally, “it does not indicate where the centers are located.” Where new organizations have been tapped as partners, the services offered seem . . . slightly incongruous with the stated mission of helping low-income Americans achieve self-sufficiency:

One such group is the Colorado-based Space Foundation, which marketed its services to the centers, including a “virtual audience with an astronaut,” at the cost of $7,000 for a single two-hour session.

In a statement, HUD spokesperson Raffi Williams told NBC News that none of the centers have officially opened because officials are still holding “roundtables to solicit input from community leaders, local residents and potential service providers about the unique needs of their community.” A source “close to Carson” told NBC he is “not happy” about the holdup, but remains optimistic: “The secretary is confident that recent staffing changes will ensure greater progress on this initiative,” the source said.