Choosing the person you want to spend the rest of your life with can be pretty nerve-wracking. But imagine doing it in front of millions of people! That’s exactly what Becca Kufrin and Garrett Yrigoyen did on the 14th season of ABC’s The Bachelorette, which ended with Garrett on one knee and a happily-ever-after engagement. So, what happens after the cameras are gone and real life begins? A lot of compromises — particularly in the bedroom! Read our conversation below to find out about their lives after the show and how they manage some very different sleep habits, so that every night can seem like a night in “the fantasy suite.”
Katie: Well, first of all, congratulations! I hear you guys moved in together earlier this year! Tell us about the adjustment from starting your relationship on TV to actually living your lives together privately?
Becca Kufrin: It was quite an adjustment (it still is TBH) going from TV life and watching our relationship unfold in front of millions, to just getting to be “us.” We are both fairly private people, and pretty down-to-earth (at least I like to think), so having people recognize us and feel like they know everything about our life and relationship is a really weird thing to process. I think the best thing that we did early on was to just continue to do what we would typically do on a daily basis and realize that one season of the show shouldn’t change who we are to our core.
Also, Garrett and I are completely different in almost every aspect, so we had to not only learn so many new things about each other that we didn’t necessarily see while filming, but to adjust our lifestyles to adapt to another human being. The most important thing to me is that, differences aside, we respect, love, honor, communicate and play with each other.
Garrett Yrigoyen: Making the adjustment from TV to moving in with each other was actually quite easy. The hardest part was moving away from the places we were comfortable with, and our friends. We are both pretty chill, hard-headed and stubborn people who are learning to give-and-take as we go, while finding out how to love one another, travel, have fun, and do life together.
I know when couples move in together, it’s always an adjustment. What surprised each of you the most about each other once you were under the same roof?
Becca: Gosh, how long do I have? Just kidding 🙂 I’ve never lived with a guy before and had been used to living on my own for the past few years, so everything was brand spankin’ new. Besides the little things like leaving the toilet paper in the correct spot or picking up used paper towels around the house (cough cough Garrett), I think the biggest challenge was just being extra mindful of our cleanliness and appreciating/accepting the other’s little quirks. You definitely have to decide what your battles are going to be, which isn’t something I was used to.
Also, Garrett snores. A lot. Which is something I’m not sure I’ll ever adjust to.
Garrett: I think it is now well known that the thing that surprised me the most about moving in with Becca is that she sleep talks, and it’s scary. She also sleeps with a sound machine on full blast, so some nights I want to smash it in with a hammer.
It sounds like you guys have been traveling nonstop since the show ended. How do you manage your jet lag/sleep schedules with so much jet-setting?
Becca: Well after filming on my season of The Bachelorette, I feel like I could have slept for 7 months straight, it was simply THAT exhausting. But because of the crazy travel itineraries and filming hours, I’ve just learned to get used to living out of a suitcase, and to REALLY appreciate my own Sleep Number when I’m home. As educational, adventurous and fun as traveling is, I know that I probably won’t sleep as well when I’m on the road, so I’ve learned to make minor adjustments when I’m gone, like taking magnesium before bed and staying current with whatever time zone I’m on. I also try to get out of bed right when I wake up each morning since I believe our bodies are the best alarm clocks.
Garrett: Thankfully I don’t have a 9-5 job so dealing with jet lag isn’t as bad as when I did. I’m able to lay down and sleep whenever I’m exhausted.
I hear that you guys adopted a corgi from South Korea — that’s so wonderful! How does having a dog impact your sleep routines?
Becca: Well, the first few nights were not that full of sleep, and we probably got a total of 7 hours in 3 nights, but that’s just because I was overly paranoid about constantly taking her out to go to the bathroom. She is probably the best sleeping puppy I’ve ever seen – she sleeps through the entire night in her crate and doesn’t wake up until we do. There are no accidents, no crying, and no snoring…yet 🙂
Garrett: She is actually getting better each night and lasting longer and longer without having to be taken from her crate to go out to the bathroom. I think Becca’s nightly restlessness and sleep talking are more exhausting than thinking about the dog having a potty accident haha.
Okay, now the fun part! Could you each take us through your nightly bedtime routines?
Becca: I typically start getting ready for bed around 10 or 10:30 every night. I prefer to take a 20-30 minute bath with a glass of wine or cup of tea and a good book. It helps me unwind much more than watching TV does, so I try to steer clear of the screen before I sleep. I have this amazing lavender-infused body oil that I put on after each bath, which is supposed to help promote relaxation and sleep, but it simply just smells amazing and makes me zen out. I’m always wearing my B the Label loungewear (which I basically live in these days) when I hop into bed, turn on my white sound machine (because again, Garrett snores), light a woodsy Nellamoon candle, shove my baby blanket (yes, I still sleep with mine) under my head, and read for about 20 minutes longer.
We like our room fairly cool, and in the summer we have the air set at 72, but when it’s chillier out I love sleeping with the windows open to get a nice breeze. I haven’t lived in California during the fall yet, but back home in Minnesota I loved feeling the crisp wind and hearing crackling leaves as I drifted off to sleep. After living with Garrett for a while now, I realize that I need more sleep than he does, like a solid 9 hours to feel good. I think after I was so sleep deprived while filming the show, I realize how much I appreciate good sleep, and I’m trying to stock up now before any future babies or more fur babies get in the way 🙂
Garrett: My nightly bedtime routine has changed drastically the past year, I won’t bore you with what it was before so I will tell you my current one is something like this: I don’t like to be full or just have eaten before I go to bed, so I prefer to eat and be done with dinner no later than 8:30 pm. It gives me a solid 2-3 hours before I go to sleep, and I like going to bed feeling like I could eat something and be satisfied but I don’t need it. That way when I wake up in the morning I’m hungry, can eat a light snack and hit the gym before I feel like I’m starving.
After dinner, I like to take a shower, sometimes I will sit down in there and just think about everything and evaluate my life, where I could improve and what I’m wasting my time at. I usually even have my phone in the shower so I can type down ideas so I won’t forget, and that way I can share them with Becca when I hop into bed. Once I’m out of the shower, I brush my teeth and gargle with mouthwash, brush my hair, and throw on only shorts to sleep in. I don’t like wearing boxers to bed or a shirt. I start out by laying on top of the covers with one pillow under my head and the other on my chest. In the middle of the night or shortly after, the pillow on my chest comes off and the sheets come over and I continue to slip into a deep REM until Becca shoots up unexpectedly and tells me things like “someone has broken into the house,” “bought all the tickets and there are no more,” “there is a man in the corner,” “we are all done and can never go back,” “there’s a spider on the ceiling,” or “THERE’S A MOUSEEE!”
Sounds like you both are making some adjustments! What’s on your bedside table?
Becca: We have two reading lamps on either side of the bed, but my side includes a small sound machine, vase of baby’s breath flowers, candle (currently one from Nella Moon called Santal Luna, which reminds me of camping), and a good book. I’m currently eye deep in two books (I like to juggle) called Dead Letters by Caite Dolan, which I’ve already read but it’s so good not to read a second time, and The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern. The latter is currently on pre-order but set to come out in a couple months, so until then, I recommend another by her called The Night Circus. Besides Harry Potter, it’s by far one of the best, most magical books I’ve ever had the pleasure of reading.
Garrett: On my bedside table there was always only a lamp and my phone plugged in charging. Recently, I have looked into a friend of mine’s logo and what it represents. The Ganesha elephant head is known by many attributes and easy to identify. The Ganesha is a remover of obstacles, patron of arts and sciences, and the diva of intellect and wisdom. So on our last trip to Thailand I bought a small gold one to put next to me on my bedside, and another I take with me when we travel.
Do you have a winding down playlist?
Becca: Nope, just my sound machine and books to help me get lost in my own thoughts 🙂
Garrett: I don’t have a winding down playlist, but what I do love to do is turn a movie on or watch a series on Netflix until I get sleepy and then I pass out.
What’s your most valuable sleeping tip that you’d like to share with everyone?
Becca: Nap time is the best time. Haha jk but: Try to get ample, well-rested sleep every night, because it literally affects so much during our waking hours. I never realized when I was younger how much sleep can make or break your day, energy levels, overall health, even your skin. So stock up while you can people, because it’s one of the best things. Oh – and if you’re a dude sleeping with your partner….aim that back away 😉
Garrett: My most valuable sleeping tip that I would like to share with everyone is to let everything out of your control go for the night. What you need to get done tomorrow can’t be done in your sleep, so sleep hard and let your body repair itself so you can crush the next day, and then do it all again.
What can you tell us about the bed in the fantasy suite? Just kidding…when are you getting married? (we have to ask, right?!)
Becca: All I can say about the fantasy suite bed is that it needed a new headboard after that slumber party 😉
No wedding plans yet, we’re taking our sweet time and just enjoying being a normal couple for a while.
Garrett: The headboard wasn’t the only thing that went down that night. Just kidding but seriously, the bed was on the floor. It was steamy, I mean hot in our tent so we had to keep adding ice to the make-shift A/C unit. We didn’t sleep much…knowing that we weren’t going to be spending the next day together, so we took full advantage of each other and our time together! There is still no date, I believe the term has been dubbed TBD.
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