Exclusive Interview
‘Bachelor’s Sean & Catherine Lowe on Favorite Memories From the Show, Marriage Secrets & More
Sean Lowe and Catherine Lowe are one of the rare couples from The Bachelor that have made their relationship last. After meeting on Season 17 of the show in 2012 (it aired at the beginning of 2013), the lovebirds have been going strong for over a decade.
In January, the Lowes, who have a new partnership with Atkins, celebrated 10 years of marriage. As part of Swooon‘s Summer Catch-Up, they opened up about the secret to their marriage, as well as what their favorite moments from the show and more.
“Social media wasn’t a thing [when we were on the show],” Catherine explained. “So that was as factor that we didn’t really have to consider when we started. It’s a struggle in the beginning of any of these [TV relationships] because everything is set up to fail. All of these relationships are pretty much destined to not work, so it was an effort for us to really commit ourselves to each other and take it seriously.”
Sean added, “At the foundation of it is our faith, which is just the base of our relationship. And then, like she said, we just committed to making it work, to being the best partner we can for one another. Ups and downs, it doesn’t matter. We both know we’re not leaving this marriage. Any successful married couple will tell you that there’s gonna be days where you really feel like you love that person, then there’s going to be days when you don’t, but regardless, every day you’re going to stick in it and just try to be the best partner you can be, and I think over time, your relationship is stronger.”
Scroll down for the rest of our chat with the couple!
It’s been more than 10 years since your time on the show. What would you say is your favorite memory from filming?
Sean Lowe: That’s a good question. I’ve got a lot of memories that come to mind immediately. The biggest memory between the two of us, naturally you’d think the engagement, but I think [it was] our first date on the glacier in Canada. That was really special. The conditions were just awful. We were in the middle of a snowstorm, I was getting pelted in the face with ice. I could barely open my eyes. The wind was so high. But all of that made for a really special date that I’ll never forget.
Catherine Lowe: I think, overall, our memories were not connected to the glamorous, over-the-top dates. It was the moments in between where it felt super natural and genuine for us to not want to do these extravagant things. We really just wanted to be together. Or times I’d see him behind the camera. One time in particular that was a moment I knew I really had genuine feelings for him was, the cameras were down, and he was chatting with some of the crew and his kindness and how he treated the people that were working with him. He was not the star. He was just a guy that was there, and the way he treated them made me really see a life that I wanted with him. I think those are the memories that stick out to me, not when he was the center of attention, but when he was genuinely himself.
How much do your kids understand about the origin of your love story?
Sean: I think they’re very aware.
Catherine: Yeah, people in their school talk about it, and they’ve seen clips of our proposal and our wedding vows. They don’t, obviously, know the intricacies of it. I think they would all think it was kind of weird.
Sean: Samuel definitely knows a lot of women were on the show and just daddy was the only man. He’s aware of that, and he’s aware that that’s how we met. Since he’s been a kid, people will stop us and ask to take a picture or whatever. He’s always known to some extent. My hope is as he gets older he just doesn’t care and thinks it’s kind of lame. Hopefully he doesn’t do too many Google searches.
Have they gotten to the point where they’re asking to watch?
Catherine: They haven’t asked. It’s so lame [to them].
Sean: I got a text from my nieces, my sister’s daughters. They started watching it this summer and I was like, “What are you doing? Don’t watch that.” They had a lot of questions I don’t think I was prepared to answer.
Catherine: But they still prefer their auntie, which I love. They’ve chosen me every time.
What do you have planned for the family this summer?
Sean: We’re going to do a family road trip to Colorado in a couple of weeks. That’s something our kids always love and look forward to, so they’ve been asking us about it all summer. We’re excited about that, just a good old fashioned family road trip.
Catherine: This summer we kind of kept a lot of things low key. It’s nice to be a tourist in our own city and see what’s around. [Dallas-Fort Worth] just is packed with things for families, so I tried to lean into things that already exist here that we’ve never been to. That was my goal this summer. So we’ve been having a very balanced, chilling summer, and then also packed with really exciting things for the kids. It’s been summer, and I’ve already gone on a road trip, but we like any travel, but we also love being at home.
Tell me about the partnership with Atkins and why it was a brand you felt passionate about working with?
Sean: It’s a perfect partnership for us because Catherine and I are normally on the same page in terms of getting healthy together, or maybe going the opposite direction and making really bad choices about the food we eat. This summer, we’ve put a lot of emphasis on wellness and getting healthy together, making better decisions together, which would include working out consistently, walking, and then, of course, food is a big one. So Atkins is great because they have a lot of high protein, low carb options, a lot of great snacks. With three kids and summertime, we’re Ubering our kids all over the place, we being the Uber drivers, so it’s super easy to just grab a snack and it’s still a good healthy choice. Atkins.com has a lot of great meal options, which is really her arena, she loves prepping meals and planning meals for the week and things like that. It’s been a great partnership and one that fits really well.
Courtesy of Atkins
Catherine: I’ve loved food my whole life, I’ve loved learning about different cuisines and plugging in foods to our meals. When I was younger, my family and I would meet together and go over what dinners we would have together, so it’s really easy to plug in the recipes that Atkins.com offers for the goals that we want in our life. Everything they have is super cravable, it’s things that I want to eat, and it’s not restrictive. It’s really a balanced, again, focused on low carb, high protein, but they have desserts to make, they have tacos, and salads and chicken, so for me, as someone who absolutely loves food and thinking about the week ahead just being a busy mom and trying to figure out what the grocery store is going to look like that week, it’s really easy to grab things, like the snacks they have. Chocolate peanut butter cups, chocolate peanut butter shakes, we’re just aways toting our kids around, so it’s nice to have an option that’s easy to grab and good for your goals.
