Former Bachelor star Arie Luyendyk Jr. is feeling a little left out of the loop. He claims to be more than willing to coach new Bachelors, but they rarely call. It’s his own fault, though. He rarely answers the phone.
“I am surprised when Bachelors get selected and then they don’t reach out to previous Bachelors,” the Season 22 star told Us Weekly on the Here for the Right Reasons podcast. “I was reached out [to] by previous Bachelors and I didn’t take the call from, like, Nick [Viall]. I talked to Sean [Lowe] because Sean’s my boy, but other Bachelors reached out and I didn’t take the time to actually pick up the phone. I should have,” he added.
Arie continued, “As a Bachelor like Zach [Shallcross], he probably should take all the info that he can outside production, right? Because production has a great team to try to help the Bachelor along, but really the best interest is the show. It’s not really [about] them.” Excellent point, Arie! Producers are hoping to make a drama-filled, watchable show. They’re not really invested in whether or not the star gets his (or her) Happily Ever After.
Arie emphasized the “big thing” Bachelors need to remember is, “This is your life and these are really big decisions. The Bachelor’s this huge pressure cooker,” he stated. “I really do feel for all the leads.”
Bachelor Nation is very aware that Arie met his wife Lauren [Burnham] Luyendyk on The Bachelor, but she wasn’t his final pick. Lauren was originally runner-up to Becca Kufrin. Becca received the Final Rose, the ring, and the proposal.
While on a so-called “Happy Couples” weekend before filming ended, the former race car driver broke up with Becca on camera, pulling a Jason Mesnick. He admitted he still had unresolved feelings for Lauren. Their split was aired on the finale of the show.
I, for one, really hated Arie for doing that to his then-fiancée on camera. (Again– production doesn’t care what’s best for the participants, they’re making a TV show). Arie and Lauren married in January 2019 and now have three children together.
Arie feels that he would be a better source of advice than his friend — and the show’s “go-to guy” — Sean. Sean had much smoother sailing on his season of the show. He picked a girl, proposed to her, and stuck with her. He and Catherine [Giudici] Lowe are also now married with three children.
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“My advice that I would probably give any Bachelor might even be better than Sean’s advice, because I did, like, I made mistakes along the way. And I can kind of help somebody not make those mistakes along the way,” the Bachelorette Season 8 alum reasoned.
Arie recently made headlines for saying in a YouTube video with Lauren that it’s “interesting” the franchise never reaches out to them, since they are a “success” story. It’s because you left such a bad taste in so many people’s mouths, Arie. You humiliated your fiancée in front of millions of TV viewers. It’s been over 5 years, and I only started to like Arie again (just a little) when I watched him on The Traitors. And I still can’t look at Jason Mesnick without thinking about poor Melissa Rycroft and the way he blindsided her on live television!
“I do feel like the Bachelor franchise is a little bit behind us. It feels almost like a dream,” Arie concluded. “I think the show has changed a lot. I think this season, they’re trying to bring the romance back, so I hope that is the case. But for me, it does feel like a lifetime ago, and you know, every journey is different. Everybody’s journey on The Bachelor could be different, so it is really hard to lend advice,” he stated.
Maybe the next time a new Bachelor reaches out to you, Arie, you should take the call.
TELL US – DO YOU THINK ARIE WOULD BE A GOOD MENTOR FOR A NEW BACHELOR? HAVE YOU FORGIVEN HIM FOR THE WAY HE DUMPED BECCA? DO YOU FEEL THE SAME ABOUT JASON MESNICK?
[Photo by Paul Archuleta/Getty Images]