After a heart-rending season of The Bachelor featuring Indy Car driver Arie Luyendyk Jr. as the main man of the show, America’s jaw dropped during the most dramatic finale yet. Viewers followed Arie’s journey through all of the heartbreak with fan favorites including Bekah M., Kendall, and Tia.
We the fans laughed, cried, and smiled joyously along the way as the crew traveled through the romantic alleyways of Paris and to the amorous cobblestones of Florence. Then, after a ceremonious proposal and what seemed like a destined path towards marriage for final contestant Becca and soon to be husband Arie, everything became washed up in a messy not-so-happily-ever-after.
From the perspective of a viewer behind the television with popcorn in hand, Arie seemingly decided to break up with the charming Becca to go crawling back to plain old Lauren. Lauren, being the same girl who received a lot of backlash during the season’s airings for not opening up to Arie, and only speaking a minimal amount while on her dates.
Not only was the breakup devastating as is, but the entirety of it was filmed and aired on national television. Bachelor fans hearts broke for Becca as she was completely blindsided after living with Arie for weeks leading up to that moment.
While the majority of America witnessed the finale from the comfort of their living rooms, others had the chance to have more personal judgments after being actually on the show.
During an interview with Vulture, contestants Bekah M. and Kendall spewed out all of their opinions about the season as well as the oh so dramatic finale. Much to their dismay, Bekah revealed how Arie had been sliding through many girls’ DMs both on air and after the show cut.
Bekah announced that “he had been talking to Lauren for weeks leading up to [the breakup]”. This was in an effort to bridge the gap and assure himself that when he was to breakup with Becca, he would have Lauren to fall back on. We all shed a few tears for Becca, who deserved way better than all of this. Bekah describes the moment that crushed America from Becca’s point of view by stating, “Imagine if you were dating somebody, and they were talking to their ex behind your back, and then left you for them.”
Ouch.
Since then, Lauren has been receiving countless amounts of hate across social media platforms. Fans demand answers as to when Arie and Lauren had even had the chance to get to know each other, let alone fallen in love, since all of their conversations could probably be spelled out on two hands. How could someone so seemingly muted on television be chosen over bubbly, charismatic, and lovable Becca?
Well, the two prior contestants, Bekah M. and Kendall, actually have a different opinion on the blonde bride. Supposedly, what was delivered on-air is actually a pretty different personality than what was revealed off-air. The two girls assure Vulture that Lauren was a pretty cool person and had her quirks and giggles.
Bekah M. reminisced on a time that the two of them were roommates when Lauren was “literally wearing a fake butt twerking upside down on the side of the wall and belting out Moulin Rouge! lyrics on the balcony with me” Really? Can you imagine Lauren doing that? I guess producers really have a way with what they decide to air and not air.
After all of the twists and turns, heartbreaks and numerous proposals, there were a couple of somewhat happy endings. For one, Arie and Lauren are now happily engaged despite the popular uproar against it. Secondly, Becca has been announced as the next Bachelorette for the upcoming season.
We are all praying and crossing our fingers for Becca to finally find that well-deserved prince charming!
So, Bachelor fans, in your opinion, is Lauren really that bland character that was aired throughout the season? Is Arie in his right mind for breaking up with Becca in front of millions of viewers? Is it a coincidence that Lauren resembles Arie’s ex Emily Maynard? Will Becca find love on The Bachelorette?
For now, all we can do is sit back and read all of the funny tweets about the drama that is always promised on ABC’s favorite show for love.