Jessica Batten has finally found her “happiness.”
To celebrate the Fourth of July, the Love Is Blind star revealed via Instagram that she has a new boyfriend. His name is Benjamin McGrath, and he’s a foot and ankle surgeon from California who goes by “Doctor Ben” on Instagram. Oh, and did we mention he’s totally cute? Yes, girl!
“Happy Fourth! ?? ?? Freedom isn’t free,” Batten captioned two pics of her cuddling up close to her new beau. “I’m thankful to be able to follow my heart and choose my own happiness. I hope you all do the same!”
“For those who have asked, this is why I would do it all over again ☀️ ?,” she continued. “Can’t wait to share some of our adventures… #followyourheart #happyfourth #244.”
Happy Fourth! ?? ?? Freedom isn’t free. I’m thankful to be able to follow my heart and choose my own happiness. I hope you all do the same! For those who have asked, this is why I would do it all over again ☀️ ? Can’t wait to share some of our adventures.. #followyourheart #happyfourth #244
A post shared by Jessica Batten (@jessicabatten_) on Jul 4, 2020 at 11:42am PDT
Batten then took to her Instagram Stories, sharing a video of her and McGrath riding bikes at the beach. “Favorite thing to do together. Also it’s how we met!” she explained.
And after going Instagram Official, the two celebrated with a trip to a McDonald’s drive-thru, where McGrath ordered their food in Spanish. “McDreamy en Espanol,” Batten gushed, using the heart eyes emoji. “I guess this is my new July 4th tradition.”
It appears McGrath has yet to post any pics of Batten on his own feed, but we did discover some other interesting facts about him while sleuthing around his Instagram. He’s a dad to two beautiful kids, for example, and seems to take pride in being a “single parent.”
“Today was a good day ❤️ Happy Father’s Day to all the dads and father figures out there!!” he wrote last month. “Your kid doesn’t care who the President is. Your kid cares that you pay attention. You’re the center of their world, you’re dad.”
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Today was a good day ❤️ . . Happy Father’s Day to all the dads and father figures out there!! . . . ‘Your kid doesn’t care who the President is. Your kid cares that you pay attention. You’re the center of their world, you’re dad’ . . . #fathersday #dadlife #familyiseverything #singleparent #feelingblessed
A post shared by Benjamin McGrath, DPM (@doctor.ben1) on Jun 21, 2020 at 8:29pm PDT
As Love Is Blind fans can recall, Batten was a fan favorite on season one of the Netflix dating series, after developing two strong connections in the pods — one with Matthew Barnett (who ultimately said “I do” to Amber Pike) and another with Mark Anthony Cuevas. Exclusively speaking with 360aproko at the reunion tell-all taping in Atlanta, Georgia, Batten said she was ready for her “fresh start” after leaving Cuevas behind at the altar during the series’ explosive finale.
“It’s been a struggle to watch it back because I saw that I was really working through some things that I needed to deal with,” Batten told 360aproko at the time. “As hard as it was though, it was kind of therapeutic on the other side to know that I was able to work through some of those things. That wasn’t the initial objective of coming onto the show, but I think I’m better for it.”
Batten added that she “grew a ton” since leaving the show, and spent most of the past year self-reflecting.
“There was one experience of living it, and there’s the secondary experience of watching it back. After the show wrapped, I had a really tough time,” she admitted. “I had to take some time for myself and get through therapy and stuff like that. I went home, moved back to Chicago, just to be closer to family.”
“Now I’m out in Los Angeles and I feel I’m having a fresh start,” she continued. “I feel really good about where I’m at and finally starting to open myself up again. But I wouldn’t be able to do that without the lessons I learned here and from Mark.”
