‘The Bachelor’ 2016 Spoilers: Ben Higgins Explains Why He Didn’t Eliminate Lace

“The Bachelor” viewers have encountered some interesting contestants during the past few weeks, but nobody compares to Lace. The 25-year-old real-estate agent from Denver has had fans scratching their heads over why star Ben Higgins would keep her on the ABC reality-television show. However, Ben cleared up the confusion after episode 3.

“Lace has been the focal point for the first few weeks of this season,” Ben explained on his “Bachelor Blog” for People magazine. “Every viewer has been at the least amused by Lace’s beauty, alcohol intake, interactions with the other women and desire to stare deeply into my eyes at all times. I have been asked over and over how I could keep Lace, and I hope this week you saw why I had. This week for the first time I believe Lace was truly herself.”

Ben told readers he appreciated how vulnerable and honest (“sometimes to a fault”) Lace was during her time on the show, adding, “The world would be better if we could all have a little more Lace in us.”

For those who missed the episode Monday night, Lace revealed she was going to withdraw from the show and go home. It was a decision that shocked viewers and Ben.

“I have a lot of work to do on myself,” she explained. “And I want to be able to offer you more. And, like, I just feel like going home might be easier. Maybe just continue working on myself and trying to better myself.”

It was a tumultuous few weeks that led Lace to this decision. During week one, she drank too much and got upset when her one-on-one conversation with Ben was interrupted. After that, she made the bold move to pull Ben aside after the rose ceremony and accuse him of not making eye contact with her. She continued to alienate herself from the others during week two when she spent the group date trying to convince Ben that she wasn’t “crazy.”

Fortunately, this not the last that “The Bachelor” universe will see of Lace. Executive producer Mike Fleiss confirmed during the 2016 Television Critics Association winter press tour that Lace will appear on Season 3 of the spinoff series “Bachelor in Paradise.”