The Bachelor

The Bachelor stars Ben Flajnik and Courtney Robertson are determined to make this thing work in spite of all the negativity - and they appear to be succeeding.

At least in the immediate aftermath of The Bachelor bloodbath.

Once host-pimp Chris Harrison coughed up and Ben re-issued the $80,000 Neil Lane ring to Courtney on the After The Final Rose special, they turned a corner.

Courtney says that despite the bumps in the road over the last few months, things are progressing nicely and she's nothing but optimistic for the future.

"We try not to pay attention to it," Courtney said this week of the tabloid scrutiny. "I guess positive stories don’t sell, so no one wants to run the truth."

However, it hasn't been all nude photo scandals, cheating rumors and hating. The general public, Court says, has been quite supportive in recent weeks:

“I just spent the weekend with Ben in San Francisco and people kept coming up, offering words of encouragement. So, things seem to be getting better.”

Courtney Robertson reiterated that she believes Ben did not cheat, saying "at the end of the day, if I didn’t trust him, I wouldn’t be with him, period."

“He trusted and believed in the real me. This has been the hardest thing I’ve ever gone through, but I’d do it again in a heartbeat. I found Ben; he made everything worth it.”

The Bachelor star Ben Flajnik is further elaborating on the controversial photos that show him apparently hooking up with other women during his recent split from Courtney Robertson. His explanation? A little dubious, at best.

Of the image that shows him clearly grabbing a female's rear end and kissing her, he says it was an old friend - and just a friendly butt pat, not a full-on, "I am attracted to you in a sexual manner" style arse grab. Mmmyeah.

The curvature of his hand does not suggest patting, but whatever:

"I have not hooked up with another woman - on my father's grave. Those women they mentioned are my friends in San Francisco," Ben Flajnik said on a conference call with reporters after The Bachelor season finale.

"But, Ben, there are photos of you clearly kissing someone and grabbing her rear," People's Monica Rizzo replied, to her credit.

"If you look at the pictures, I'm not kissing her. And that's a butt pat. My friends grab my butt. I'm physical and affectionate with friends - guys and girls," he insisted.

Again, look at the image above and decide for yourself.

"Maybe you just needed to let your hair down.  [At the time] we were still in a rough place. But I believe he didn't cheat," added Courtney Robertson on the call.

Away from reality TV cameras and free to roam amid additional scrutiny from paparazzi cameras, The Bachelor stars Ben Flajnik and Courtney Robertson are playing the loving couple in the aftermath of their controversial winter on ABC.

Things appear to be going well and relatively uneventfully ... mostly.

Ben, who recently shared his first public pic with Courtney, appears eager to prove the skeptics wrong and show that their relationship is the real deal.

The reality couple put on quite the amorous (and camera ready) display when Ben picked Courtney Robertson up from the San Francisco airport last week.

They acted like lovebirds as they locked lips and cuddled publicly upon being reunited, her Neil Lane diamond ring still firmly on her finger, witnesses say.

However, the pair's PDA will undeniably be met with cynicism by some.

Last week during the After the Final Rose special, Ben Flajnik admitted the negativity surrounding the season caused them to break off their engagement.

While they've since gotten back together, The Bachelor duo was also later seen looking subdued and not exhibiting any affectionate body language.

Are they just going through the motions? Or are they more of a normal pair then we probably think, in spite of everything that played out on television?

The burning question: Will Ben and Courtney last?

[Photos: Fame/Flynet]

Ben Flajnik and Courtney Robertson are officially that couple.

That couple goes out in public and posts photos of themselves in order to flaunt their relationship online ... basically any couple in the social media era.

Of course, they're anything but a conventional pair. Just one week ago, Ben's proposal to Courtney - and the dirty laundry that followed - aired on TV.

Incredibly, despite a breakup since The Bachelor season finale, the two appear to have weathered the storm, and are now taking their romance public:

"1st pic out in public," the winemaker Tweeted with this pic.

A witness who saw the pair out and about tells Us Weekly:

"Saw Ben and Courtney dining with two other guests in the North Beach neighborhood of San Francisco. She was wearing her ring and they looked cozy."

Aww. Despite Ben kissing random chicks just last month and her overall psychosis on The Bachelor this season, things are looking up for the couple.

The Bachelor host slash pimp Chris Harrison says that Courtney Robertson and Ben Flajnik just might last. What do you think? Do they stand a chance?

The Bachelor host Chris Harrison spoke to reporters via conference call today and shared his thoughts on the re-engaged Ben Flajnik and Courtney Robertson.

Chris paints a fair portrait of the controversial couple, and sympathizes with Courtney (though he concedes he and his family were Team Lindzi from the start).

Will the couple make it? Will we see them on TV again? And what was it like whipping out that ring on the After the Final Rose special? So many questions.

Excerpts from his lengthy interview on all of that and more below:

On whether he's rooting for rooting Ben and Courtney:

"Of course I'm rooting them on. You know, why wouldn't you?"

"I mean, I know that she wasn't the most popular choice and that if you put it to America's vote maybe she wouldn't have been in it, but I think the important thing and the great thing about the show is that was Ben's choice."

"Why not respect that? Who am I not to respect that? And so of course I wish them the best and the million dollar question, will they make it? Who knows? Who's to say which couples make it in life? But I wish them the very best. 

Ben Flajnik and Courtney Robertson of The Bachelor cover Us Weekly this week ... for the fourth time this year. None of which have been positive portrayals.

In the aftermath of The Bachelor season finale, the tabloid uses the following headline to describe the lovebirds: "Liar Liar! Inside Their Web Of Deceit." 

Hmm. Wonder how they really feel about Ben and Court.

The viewing populace wasn't thrilled that Ben Flajnik chose Courtney Robertson over Lindzi Cox with the final rose Monday, but Us takes it to a new level.

The magazine states unequivocally that their relationship is all a lie, claiming:

• That Ben kissed a bunch of random girls last month (that appears true).
• That he never stopped chasing other women since their "reconciliation."
• That Courtney’s tearful After the Final Rose apology was all for show. 
• That there's another girl and Ben and Courtney are over already.

Not hard to believe, given the utterly awkward and uncomfortable ATFR special Monday, but remember, this magazine has tried to take them down all winter:

What do you think? Is this all to sell magazines, or is the couple really destined to fail - if they haven't already? And was this the worst Bachelor season ever?

Vote below: Will Ben and Courtney last?

Ben Flajnik's decision to propose to Courtney Robertson on The Bachelor finale was not exactly well received, but he stands by it, saying they're a great fit.

The reality star hopes that as the recent controversy dies down, "people will get a better understanding of who we are and why we're still together."

Ben admits he saw signs of Courtney Robertson's now-infamously catty behavior this season, "like when she would skip back after getting a rose."

Just the same, "I asked [the other women] for specific examples and [they said], 'She's weird,' or 'She's different.' That wasn't reason enough."

Ben Flajnik says there were "many really sweet moments that we had together" that kept him interested in Courtney Robertson, come what may.

Plus, he adds, "She was one of the only girls on the show that questioned the experience and that's what I found attractive about her – and I still do."

"Courtney was always like, 'I've only been on two dates with you, why should I bring you home right now? My family is really important to me.'"

"It was like, finally, someone who asks the right questions instead of [saying], 'It's going be wonderful and we could be married for the rest of our lives.' "

Despite acknowledging that the two split for several weeks this winter, during which he kissed a bunch of random girls, Ben says they "will be fine."

"Maybe someday people will get behind us, but for now we work really well together," he says. "The Bachelor will not define me as a person."

Question is: Will Ben and Courtney last?

The Bachelor's Ben Flajnik adamantly denied - swore on his father's grave, no less - that he kissed other girls during his brief time apart from Courtney Robertson.

These photos clearly show him kissing Alison McGlone and another girl, however.

Here's the deal: Ben Flajnik and Courtney Robertson got engaged on the finale ... but he dumped her after seeing what a psycho she was throughout the season.

They were apart for a period in February, when the pics (below) were taken.

Courtney and Ben reconciled soon after, but he still swore up and down after The Bachelor finale that he didn't stray from her at any point. Why?

According to Pacific Coast News, which did its best to document all of Ben's activities, he kissed a second, unnamed girl after bar-hopping in San Francisco February 17.

Ben then kissed a third unidentified woman (red pants) after the bars closed.

Doesn't look like the way you kiss a "friend," does it? Ben was later seen being escorted home by some girl, who also left the next morning in the same clothes.

The following night, Flajnik was seen on a romantic late night dog walk with another woman, Alison McGlone (above, center and right) whom he could be seen kissing.

Note that there is ass-grabbing going. Not "friend" material. Early the next day, Alison McGlone was seen leaving his house and walking home ... in the same clothes.

Again, he and Court had split up during this window. But he may have also blatantly lied on TV. Pure celebrity gossip fodder, perhaps. But that doesn't mean it's false.

It all makes you wonder ... will Ben and Courtney last?

[Photos: Pacific Coast News]

Lindzi Cox feels no animosity toward Ben Flajnik for rejecting her on The Bachelor finale Monday. That said, she did get in a nice dig at Courtney Robertson.

"She was nude a lot," Cox said today on Good Morning America.

"Maybe if I went skinny-dipping I wouldn't be here with you."

Despite being sent home at the final rose ceremony (below), the 27-year-old development manager says of Ben Flajnik, "I wish him nothing but the best."

The Bachelor Finale: Lindzi Cox Rejected

"At the end of the day, yeah, maybe it was really tough on me for a little bit, but he made a decision, it was what's best for him, and I respect that."

"When I watch it on TV, I could see why he's with [Courtney Robertson]," she added. "They really did have a solid connection throughout."

The jilted Bachelor contestant didn't appear on the After the Rose special Monday, as she felt Ben and Court had too many bigger issues to address.

"Ben and Courtney came out and it was pretty emotional ... I think it was tough for them. I'm in a good place. I don't really need closure," Cox said.

"I think Ben has bigger things to worry about... I'm in a good place. I learned a lot about the experience. It's awesome. I would totally go do it again."

Will Ben and Courtney last?

To the surprise of no one and the dismay of nearly everyone, Courtney Robertson took home the final rose on The Bachelor season finale Monday night.

The most interesting part of the evening came afterward.

On the After the Final Rose special, taped on March 4 and airing right after Ben Flajnik got down on one knee, the couple revealed to host-pimp Chris Harrison that Ben actually dumped Courtney last month ... only to get re-engaged!

Ben Flajnik and Courtney Robertson on The Bachelor: After the Final Rose

What prompted the split? Ben Flajnik watching his model fiancee act like such a petulant, obnoxious psycho b!tch on The Bachelor this season, basically.

Surprisingly (and it seemed quite genuine ... if this was an act for the cameras it was a darn good one) the two patched things up after their breakup.

Ben said he knows Courtney Robertson regrets her behavior and he should've stuck by his bride-to-be through this difficult time, rather than run for the hills.

And hooking up with some other girl, which he denied in the ATFR taping. Whatever. In case there was any doubt, he put the ring BACK on her last night.

All very interesting. What do you think? Do you believe in Courtney and Ben? Will these two make it to the altar and live happily ever after? Vote in our poll:

Will Ben Flajnik and Courtney Robertson last?