While a lot of Bachelor relationships have wilted after the final rose, Sean Lowe and Catherine Giudici Lowe's love has continued to bloom.
In fact, the season 17 stars celebrated 10 years of marriage earlier this year. So for franchise couples still navigating the early days of a romance in the public eye, consider this your date card to hear the duo's advice.
"Don't let the spotlight fool you," Sean warned in an exclusive interview with E! News at Samsung's recent Summer Sustainability Eco-Talk in New York. "You don't have a discernible talent, right? OK, so you are famous for a little bit, right? But you're not a great actor or a great singer. This is how I always felt. It was very humbling because I knew I'm just a normal guy that happened to be on this TV show. I don't deserve the spotlight."
And he recommends taking this approach for the right reasons.
"I think ultimately that was good because I never felt like, 'Oh, I need to go pursue Hollywood or do some of these crazy things,'" the former Bachelor added. "And it allowed me to put more focus on her and long term. We moved back to Texas, and we just wanted to start a family."
Catherine—who shares kids Samuel, 7; Isaiah, 6; and Mia, 4, with Sean—agrees.
"I think that's the trap," the graphic designer added. "I mean, there are so many factors as to why it doesn't work out for a lot of people. We didn't even have each other's phone numbers before we were engaged. So you're like, 'OK, obviously, everything's against us.' And adding the public eye, it's such a detriment to the intimacy of your relationship that you really have to be intentional about that time and about communicating how they're feeling with all this attention."
And because the bulk of that spotlight can go towards the lead, Catherine said she and Sean had conversations about being equals.
"He got all this attention, which I was used to because he was obviously the star," she added. "And so it's just making sure like, 'You see me. We're the same here. Maybe outside we're not, but we're the same here.' And just having those continued check-ins, I think that's really, really important for the star to have with the selection."
Sean—who first appeared on Emily Maynard's season of The Bachelorette—and Catherine fell in love on The Bachelor in 2013 (yes, she still has her final rose framed somewhere in their Dallas-area home). And their kids have gotten glimpses into the couple's journey on the show—with the 40-year-old noting he recently watched their televised wedding ceremony with daughter Mia and that it was "really special."
Still, there can be awkward moments.
"We know Samuel—our oldest—is aware of what The Bachelor is," Sean said. "He's told me he's Googled me at school. I'm like, 'What did you see?'"
And while Catherine joked about their son seeing his dad with other women on the show—"That's not mommy!"—she said she doesn't think the kids fully grasp how their love story began on reality television.
"It kinda feels like if you were to cast your family photo on the TV," the 38-year-old explained. "I don't think kids understand that. We don't really want them too yet 'cause it doesn't identify us now."
Instead, Catherine would argue they're "just normal guys" who met in an abnormal way. And while they continued to make TV appearances after their Bachelor run—including Sean competing on Dancing With the Stars in 2013 and them both appearing on Marriage Bootcamp two years later—their screen time now looks a little different, with them describing their ideal date night as watching Arrested Development and eating dinner with their TV trays.
And they wouldn't have it any other way.
"Every once in a while, we'll stop and say, 'Did we really meet each other on that show?' Because it doesn't seem real," Sean said. "It's such a kind of wacky way to meet your spouse, but that's how we met and here we are 10 years later. We've created this beautiful family and beautiful home, and we're just very grateful."
And their relationship isn't the only place they focus on sustainability. While taking part in Samsung's Summer Sustainability Eco-Talk, they discussed topics like recycling and trying to decrease food waste.
"All of our TVs in our home are Samsung," Sean told E! about the brand partnership. "So we kind of have this brand allegiance to Samsung in the first place, and we're constantly preaching recycling and reusing and things like that to our kids. And so when that was the first thing that they said they wanted to put their focus on, we're all ears. I think what they're doing is great. On the face is like beautiful appliances, easy to love, but then once you see what it does on the backend and how it can really help the planet and also save you money every month, I mean, what's not to like about it?"
And if you'd like to see where other Bachelor stars stand, keep reading.