Dancing with the Stars cast member and former star of The Bachelor Chris Soules says his fiancee Whitney Bischoff is still friends with his runner-up, Becca Tilley.
How does he feel about that female friendship? Will it result in the obligatory, almost daily rumors of trouble in paradise between Chris and Whitney? Actually ...
"I'm so glad they're friends," Soules said. "It doesn't surprise me because I was pretty close to some guys dating Andi [Dorfman] when I was on The Bachelorette."
"I'm just glad they were able to keep their friendship, because they're great girls. That's what that experience was about. Meeting some really great people."
"Having those friendships is important."
It's true, and sometimes it just works out. You don't need The Bachelorette spoilers to tell you there will be cat fights and drama every season in the mansion.
That doesn't mean there aren't exceptions to the rule, however, and that some romantic rivals might just come away with an unexpectedly tight bond.
Andi and Nikki Ferrell, who both vied for the heart of Juan Pablo Galavis on his season of The Bachelor, have also remained close friends ever since.
In the case of Becca Tilley, she handled rejection about as well as anyone we've ever seen on the show, and Whitney was obviously the right choicefor Chris.
That makes it a lot easier for her to move into the friend zone than, say, Nick Viall and the "fiance type stuff" he was certain he and only he had with Andi.
Bischoff and Tilley actually went out to dinner this past weekend, and Soules says his future wife, despite refusing to watch The Bachelor online, "knows enough."
"She hears things, you know? I think you go through that, you have to be able to mentally ... know that I [was] going through those relationships differently."
"She doesn't live in a bubble. I'm not putting it in the English language very well," Chris adds, but "she's very smart. They all get it and can look past it."
"She's tough. That's why I fell in love with her."
As for Chris and Becca these days?
"I mean, it's not like we talk or communicate on a regular basis," the 33-year-old farmer noted. "The first time we actually got to talk was at The Final Rose.
"She's a great person, from a great foundation, a great family, and is happy, I'm sure, for Whitney and I. That's why they're able to have that friendship."
As for Chris and Whitney, the rumors of tumult between them are greatly exaggerated, even fabricated. But he does confess that DWTS has been tough.
"We get to spend a fair amount of time together, but I think mentally I'm not really there in a way that I will be able to be in the future," Soules admitted.
"It changes the dynamic a little, so she gets that and we've just got to communicate and work hard at it ... It will be a lot easier once this is over with."
"She's the best. I take this extremely seriously and she's nervous for me and every day [says,] 'How'd it go? How do you feel? How did rehearsal go?'"
Whitney has also befriended her namesake, and another important woman in Chris' life at the moment - Soules' DWTS pro partner Witney Carson.
"I ended up texting her and asked her to come to The Grove for a coffee," Witney Carson says of Bischoff. "I just wanted to get to know her and be friends with her."
"Just let her know she should just totally enjoy this experience while she's there... We had a really good chat and she's great, you know? I really, really like her."
