The Bachelor's Catherine Lowe On The Importance Of Family Time - Exclusive Interview

"Bachelor" favorite and Season 17 winner Catherine Lowe aims to bring people back together after being torn apart from the COVID-19 pandemic with her latest project. We at The List were lucky to sit down with her to discuss her new partnership with massive hotel conglomerate Wyndham Grand, as well as her life during the pandemic and her life as a "Bachelor" success story.

Lowe's win on "The Bachelor" meant she landed her happily-ever-after with then-Bachelor Sean Lowe, and now, many years after their fateful television encounter, the two "Bachelor" stars are still married and share three children together. During our conversation with Lowe, she even revealed the truth about finding love on "The Bachelor."

Ultimately, her partnership with Wyndham Grand is a love letter to her marriage, her kids, the family she doesn't see too often, and the world, which she yearns to see grow closer. From Monday, December 6 through December 31, random guests who stay at Wyndham Grand hotels may receive a Reconnected Keepsake Box. Designed with Lowe, the box includes travel tips, keepsake compartments for making memories, and a Fujifilm Instax camera for capturing every last memory.

What can you tell us about your reconnected program with Wyndham Grand?

Okay, so I'm super excited about this initiative from Wyndham Grand. It's about being reconnected with your family because obviously the last year and a half has been really hard for families to be physically in person. So it's a reconnected program so that there's no distractions. You're super present and you're making memories with your family or your loved ones this year. Do it in person and together without just a FaceTime. But without any technology, please, for this one. But one great thing about it is that it just promotes being together and also documenting your time together. So one of my favorite things about it is they have a reconnected travel keepsake box that they're giving away starting Monday [December 6] at their Wyndham properties across the U.S. So they're going to surprise ... guests that are probably families [and they] get to have an instant camera. They get to have a box of compartments. They get to have tips and tricks because I've done a lot of travel with my family.

So I also need to look at these tips every once in a while — look and be very present with my kids, savor the moments, make sure that everything is captured and documented. But the reality of your situation is captured and documented. So if you aren't at one of those properties, by the end of the year, you can also go to their website, which is wyndhamgrand.com/reconnected and sign up to not only win one of these boxes, but you can win a 10-night stay at one of their properties, which I'm definitely going to do that.

So, anyways, I just feel like something that this year is going to be [is] unique. Like the unique part of this year is going to be physically being with your family and loved ones and trying your best to be present, because it's a really cool year that we get to make new memories in person. And that's what I love about what Wyndham Grand is doing. Uninterrupted, no distractions, present time. Because with young kids, that's what they're going to remember. So that's what I love about it. Awesome.

And how did this partnership between you and Wyndham Grand form?

Well, I think that because I'm such a seasoned traveler with my family and I love to document things and share what our reality is in our family, I think that's how it came about. And also recently, I got reconnected with my sisters, who, we haven't been in a room together in seven years. So that means my younger sister has never met my children and I've never met her daughter. So we got a hotel room, we had the separating room so that we could like — literally when we were growing up, we would just burst into each other's rooms, ask what each other's wearing, say, "Can I borrow this?"

So we recreated that. It was a super special time. And I think that together we bring a unique perspective ... and have a ton of tips and tricks so that people can create memories with their families during this time.

Because I'm not trying to toot my own horn, but I feel like I do a really good job because I make sure that I'm present with my kids, that I document everything, and that it's a super, super exciting time that we know our kids are going to remember.

That's amazing. And speaking of travel, as the world is reopening and everything, what are maybe one or two places you really want to visit? Whether it's your first time or revisiting?

Sean Lowe just took me to New York for his birthday, which was amazing. It's one of my favorite cities. It's an open-ended question? I would go anywhere! On my bucket list is Greece and Italy, haven't been there, which I would absolutely love to go. It's really hard to travel internationally without the kids.

But I feel like with the kids, I would love to go back to New York. Anywhere, even if I just took a road trip with the kids. We did that in the first year of the pandemic to Colorado, and we took an RV and it was so fun. Just things that you maybe aren't used to doing bring you so much joy because when you're in them, you feel like a kid. Cause you're like, "Oh we're on an RV. Like we get to watch a movie in the car, and stop anywhere we want." So I feel like being able to do things that are not normally what you do [is] super exciting for — even if you don't have kids, even if you don't have a family, those are the things that you'll remember.

Absolutely. And sort of speaking about the pandemic, how did the pandemic affect your family dynamics, or did it affect how you parent even?

You know, Sean Lowe and I are so blessed to say that we were not really super affected. We work from home, both of us. So our kids are used to seeing us a lot. They're not in school, so they didn't have to — I mean, they're going to school, but during last year, it wasn't ... they're not missing curriculum and doing all this stuff. They're young enough where we can just be super present with them, maybe do more activities. I think I got more used to doing tons of activities with them because when you're in this space and you're not going out and doing things at the museum or, you know, going to all of these places, you really have to spend a lot of time curating these moments for them at the house. But other than that, we just feel like we can't speak anything negative about it because you know how hard a lot of people were dealing with it. So we were very blessed.

Yeah, definitely. And you brought up Sean a few times, so, of course, I want to ask, how has your experience been being one of the "Bachelor" franchise's biggest success stories.

I mean, first of all, knowing that we even did that is so bizarre and surreal because we're really just normal people that happened to have met on this show. We feel super lucky to know that so many people are rooting us on and continue to support us. I mean, this is, what, eight years later? And we really root for the people on the show. I do. Sean Lowe is a little bit more realist when it comes to watching the show, but really all the factors are against you, so I can't fault anybody that goes on the show that breaks up because you're not usually from the same city. You don't even have each other's phone numbers. You don't know what a daily routine looks like.

There are so many things that are so stacked against you. The media attention, the social media presence, the jobs that you get, the people that you [meet], the networks that you are now introduced to. So I feel really like, this was meant for us, like the way that we met. Because in any other situation we wouldn't have met this way, but I don't hold it against a lot of people that just don't make it because it is really tough.

So do you both still watch all of the "Bachelor" and "Bachelorette" seasons?

I do because ... I think [Sean is] a little jaded because he's like, "Oh, well that was produced," or whatever. Really "The Bachelor" and "The Bachelorette" are so much like realer than any other show that we've been on. It's barely produced. They cast super well, so that naturally drama comes up.

Yeah.

I mean the whole situation is dramatic. You're like, "Oh, like Michelle [is] kissing [a] guy in front of ... " I mean, it just, it makes me cringe to know that that's a normal thing that people put themselves through. They're like, "Oh yeah. Oh, I'm going to kiss them right after you kiss them." It's weird. Okay, so I feel like I enjoy it because I want people to really fall in love on that show. And I think it definitely happens, but he's just more jaded. And it's such a commitment. I mean, it's two hours every week, so I'm totally good with that. He's like, "I'd rather watch sports."

Yeah, that's fair. And it does feel like it's on all the time.

I know, but that's the best.

Yeah, I agree. [Laughs] Speaking of the new seasons of "The Bachelor," what advice would you have for new "Bachelor" couples to make their relationships work?

I mean, Sean Lowe and I have ... the same stance on this. It's just committing to each other. Just like in any other relationship, the noise shouldn't affect you guys. It should make you guys stronger. Of course, that's easier said than done, but if you look at most couples that don't make it, it's probably either more attention-related or someone prioritizing [something else]. I mean, and that's a relationship in general. "The Bachelor" aside, I mean, it's the same thing. It's just that people are watching you. I just think committing to that person and saying, "We're going to make it through and having a similar understanding of where you even came from." I mean, I would equate it to a fraternity or sorority, where only those people in your class understand what you had to go through. So you already have a comrade in that partner that you have because in no other situation can you explain how weird and bizarre and surreal that situation was. So I would just say commit. Commit to that person and try to push the noise out [and] away.

Yeah. And in that same vein, what advice might you have for contestants that are going on the show to find love?

Be honest about your feelings for that person. Don't make it a contest like, "Oh, well I have to win because I get X, Y or Z," or whatever. I would say it's more matchmaking than it is contestants trying to vie for this man. Because what I love about the show is that you get non-negotiables out of the way. Like, "Hey, I like to do this with my family" or "I drink a lot." And all these things that really matter that probably you would find out within dating somebody for six months or a year, you find out in days.

Yeah.

So I think, don't waste any time. Say, "Hey, do you like this?" Or "If you do X, Y, and Zs, things that are really important to me, then I'm out." You know? And having those honest conversations cause you don't want to waste time.

No. I love that, that it's really about making the most of it.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah. So sort of going back to the Wyndham partnership, I wanted to ask, are there any specific moments from, whether the pandemic or before the pandemic, that made you want to do this partnership?

Well, I think that Sean Lowe and I are so blessed to again be home and always get to document. And I feel like our children are so spoiled with our time [and] that most people don't get to [spend that time with their families]. So we have a unique perspective on what makes a family and what makes your children really happy, which is being present with them. I remember last year I took these pictures of my children. They weren't post-worthy. They weren't, you know, posed. They were our real family. The kids were naked, or they were wearing diapers, and they're jumping across the couch. But in my mind, I remember that time in our lives and what we were doing at that time. So I feel when parents take pictures or when they document things, it does them a disservice if it's only posed happy pictures where you wrangled the kids to be in a pose. Document their real moments, what your reality [is], the messy house, the stuff all over the place, you don't look cute. All those things make up 99% of what your life looks like.

Yeah.

So, you know, I'm not frolicking in a field in, you know, heels and a dress all the time. Yes, that's a Christmas card that I'll remember, but I want to remember the small things that happened. The kids, you know, not being crazy and wild and psycho, and every night looks like that. So why not remember those times and document those times? So that's something that I love that I think that they can, that families will be inspired to do is create memories of and create new traditions with your family that are real, that aren't just for Instagram or, you know, for a Christmas card.

Wyndham Grand hotels will be gifting random visitors their Catherine Lowe-collaborated Reconnected Keepsake Boxes up until December 31.