"Anyone who's been married knows it takes work," Sean said, just months after the reality TV couple celebrated the milestone wedding anniversary on Jan. 26
Sean Lowe knows what it takes to make a marriage work.
Just months after celebrating his 10th wedding anniversary with wife Catherine Giudici Lowe, the Bachelor alum, 40, revealed how the pair have kept their relationship solid through the years.
"Anyone who's been married knows it takes work," Sean told E! News, noting the contrast between his and Catherine's experience on season 17 of the ABC reality series — where they met and fell in love in a fantasy setting — and the realities of life off-screen.
"The Bachelor is great at making you feel all of these emotions, and you're riding high on love, and you're gonna have these feelings for the rest of your life. But once you get into the real world, some days you don't feel all the love that you had when you got down on one knee," he continued. "And so for us, it's just about committing. And part of that is trying to be the best partner you can for your spouse."
Sean went on to admit that he and Catherine — who share three young kids, Samuel, 7, Isaiah, 6, and Mia, 4 — experienced challenges in their relationship once the cameras were gone.
"We went through a lot of stuff," he told E! News, recalling how Catherine had to "pick up her life in Seattle and move to Texas" while he spent eight weeks competing on Dancing with the Stars in 2013 shortly after their engagement.
"And there are a lot of growing pains and just learning how to communicate to one another, what our love languages are, learning how to get in disagreements in healthy ways," Sean said. "It's a lot for any relationship, but especially in those circumstances."
"It probably did make us stronger," he added.
Sean also recalled experiencing a period of adjustment after their January 2014 wedding, which was televised live for fans. "We got married when I was 30," he told E! News. "And when you're 30 years old, you develop certain patterns in your life that you're comfortable with. And you think, 'Well, I'm going to get married, and I'm going to continue those patterns because this has always been my life, right?' "
"You recognize, 'Wait a minute, I need to break some of those patterns. I need to take my wife's interests in mind,' " he continued.
While he acknowledged that he gets "it wrong a lot" in his relationship with his wife, he said he and Catherine are both "really good at forgiving each other and forgiving quickly."
"I'm very thankful that I have a wife that's like, 'Hey, Babe, I know you've got a good heart. You didn't mean to hurt my feelings, but you did. But I forgive you. Let's move on,' " he explained.
To celebrate reaching the 10-year milestone in their marriage, the couple enjoyed a belated getaway to Mexico earlier this month. Sean marked the moment with an Instagram post, featuring a picture of the pair posing together by the ocean.
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"Celebrating 10 years of marriage with the best woman I know. And the hottest," he wrote.
Catherine also shared a carousel of photos from the trip, which included lots of pool time, walks on the beach and celebratory meals.
"Are we even old enough to have been married 10 years?! Doesn’t feel like it 😌. Happy anniversary celebration mi amor," she captioned the post.