Recently we got the chance to catch up with Alicia Kenworthy. We first got to speak with Alicia after seeing her on the show “Find My First Love”. Alicia traveled to France in search of her long-lost love Benjamin.  Check out below to see what is going on in Alicia’s life now!

upfrontNY: We talked in April of 2015. Does it feel like it has been that long for you since the show came out and you went through that experience?

Alicia Kenworthy: It really does. It feels like a whole different life to me. It was such an incredible experience. It transported me to a different world quite literally. I recently moved back to Washington, D.C. so now I’m getting back into a routine at home. It stands out as a beautiful time in my life and stands out like a dream.

 

upfrontNY: You transitioned from the States to France and now back to D.C. What has been the best and the hardest part for you?

Alicia Kenworthy: The best part about coming home is reconnecting with friends and family. I grew up here in D.C. and most of my friends and family are here and it feels really nice to be home. The hardest part has definitely been the reverse culture shock. It has been fading away gradually, but the first couple months back there was a lot of culture shock I’ve been dealing with.

 

upfrontNY: Have you watched the show again since everything has changed in your life?

Alicia Kenworthy: I have because my friends love the show so much. They love to pull out the trailer at parties and it’s a popular conversation starter. I have rewatched it multiple times. They filmed a final episode of that season that they did and caught up with us. I have never watched that follow-up.

 

upfrontNY: In the follow-up were you two still together?

Alicia Kenworthy: We filmed that show when Ben and I had reconnected in April 2, 2014 and it aired in 2015. We had been living together for a year by that point. Then they did the follow-up the following January. We had been living together for two years at that point.

 

upfrontNY: For people who don’t know what has changed for the two of you since that show and the follow up, can you tell us a little about that?

Alicia Kenworthy: Ben and I have broken up. I left a little after our 2 year anniversary in April of 2016. It has been a little over a year since we split ways. I took another year just to stay in France. I really wanted a year to be in France on my own. It was a major transition and I wasn’t ready to come back to the States quite yet. I have been back and forth for the past year. I took some time reflecting and deciding what I wanted to do next.

 

upfrontNY: Do you feel like staying in France after you broke up gave you time to experience more? Were you ready to come home after that?

Alicia Kenworthy: Exactly. It would have been really hard to let go of my boyfriend and the country I called home. I was so close with his family and my host family. I had met them when I was studying abroad there when I was 18 in my gap year in Champagne. They are like a second family and I am close with them. Ben and I had spent a lot of time with his family and my French family. There were a lot of changes and it was hard to leave and make that decision. I wasn’t ready to let go of the country as well.

 

upfrontNY:  With how everything has turned out, do you have any regrets or would you do everything the same way you have?

Alicia Kenworthy: I would do it all over again absolutely. Having the same information, I would do it all over again. There’s that Garth Brooks song…. I’m glad I didn’t know the way it all would end the way it all would go- I could have missed the pain But I’d have to miss the dance.   I am such a country music fan.

I maybe could have been more thoughtful going into it. It was a huge life change and I don’t think I fully grasped what I was getting myself into, but at the same time I don’t think there was any way I could. I couldn’t have imagined that Ben was ready to start something and try to build a life together when I went over.

 

upfrontNY: Has doing the show or your breakup changed your outlook on love?

Alicia Kenworthy: I am still a hopeless romantic. I am still very passionate. I still believe in taking risks for love. I think the one thing that it changed was that it taught me a lot about compatibility. I think that I still loved Ben a lot. What was hardest for me was realizing you could truly love someone and be in love with someone and that person can not be compatible with you in certain ways. We had little life style differences that clashed at the end of the day. And I think that he really wanted to build a life in France and ultimately I realized I wanted to build a life at home and sometimes there are things like that you can’t sacrifice, but are really difficult.

 

upfrontNY: If you had the opportunity to go on another show about love like a dating show would you?

Alicia Kenworthy: I think I am done with reality tv for now. It is also nice to have love outside of the spotlight, but I am a huge fan of dating shows. I’m a huge fan of The Bachelor and The Bachelorette and I watch those pretty religiously and are always throwing watching parties with my friends.

 

upfrontNY: What else has been going on in your life that you want to share?

Alicia Kenworthy: I am not going to talk about it too much yet because I just joined the team, but I decided my new career move. I just joined Three Day Rule which is a professional matchmaking company. I will be working as a professional matchmaker here in Washington DC. I am also working on a book about my experiences loving French men, dating, and finding love in France.

 

upfrontNY: That’s great! It is wonderful that so many experiences are leading to these great opportuties for you.

Alicia Kenworthy: It is one of those things that when you’re in it you can’t really see where its leading, but then all of a sudden things are falling into place and things start to really make sense.

 

upfrontNY: So are you the type that believes that everything happens for a reason?

Alicia Kenworthy: I am absolutely.

 

upfrontNY: The last interview we did has gotten onto a fan board. Many people are consistently reading it and talking about it. What has it been like to see people reading it and taking an interest in the road you took and this amazing experience you have gone through?

Alicia Kenworthy: It has been incredible. I still get messages from all over the world. The episode just aired recently in the Philippines, its aired in Australia, throughout Europe in the UK and Italy. Sometimes I get messages on Instagram or Facebook from people who have watched it and it has really inspired them to take risks for love and that love is something worth fighting for.  It is beautiful to be in a position where I can inspire someone to make a change in their life or keep hope alive. I really appreciated that opportunity.