Reality Steve is *not* a fan, and that’s basically all we need to know.

 

Thank you everyone for all the kind words today! Excited to start this journey

A post shared by Arie (@ariejr) on

 

After waiting a literal lifetime to find out who our next Bachelor is, the announcement was *finally* made and we just have one question: Ashton, are you punking us rn?

Arie Luyendyk Jr. has officially been crowned the season 22 lead and if you don’t remember him, it’s probably because he hasn’t been on the show for half a freaking decade. He *was* a fan fave on Emily Maynard’s season but has since been completely M.I.A from the Bachelor Nation world, so you can guess our shock/disappointment/utter confusion when he was announced as the next Bachelor.
Since pretty much all of Twitter has been asking the same question—who the hell is this person and why is he the next Bachelor?—we took it upon ourselves to do some digging. Here’s what we found:

He was the runner-up on Emily Maynard’s season:

 

Arie was *so* close to finding love on The Bachelorette’s season 8 finale but was left brokenhearted when Emily sent him home to pursue a three-month relationship with his castmate and good friend Jef With One F Holmes.

 

 

He was known on Emily’s season as the “Kissing Bandit”

Mostly because of his super sexy ‘up against the wall’ make outs like this one:

 

Arie-as-the-next-Bachelor

 

He’s a race car driver

According to his Instagram he’s a former Indy 500 competitor, an X-Games medalist and an IndyLights winner—all of which means absolutely nothing to us. He’s also the son of some guy we’ve never heard of famous race car driver Arie Luyendyk. It’s safe to say we can expect at least one race track group date this season.

 

 

He’s also a real-estate agent

He calls it his “winter career.”

 

 

[Side note: he does look p. good in a suit…but not as good as Peter]

 

He dated and occasionally still hooks up with Courtney Robinson

After being sent home on Emily’s season, Arie started dating OG Bachelor vill Courtney Robinson. The relationship lasted a stellar two months but the two are still friends who like to make out on occasion. Because what else are friends for?

 

 

He’s a travel junkie

According to his v. boring racecar-filled Insta page, dude loves to travel, which is supes convenient for someone who is about to travel the world whilst searching for love.

 

Elephant sanctuary today, got to feed these sweet animals @Tracyahumada

A post shared by Arie (@ariejr) on

 

He was almost the Bachelor two years ago

According to friend and fellow season 8 cast mate Sean Lowe, this isn’t Arie’s first attempt at being the Bachelor. During a radio interview back in 2015, Sean spilled the beans that Chris Soules wasn’t actually the first choice for season 19 lead. “From what I understand, they wanted Arie…They actually told [him] he was gonna be the Bachelor,” he said. “They flew down, had a camera crew, filmed him telling his family he was gonna be the next Bachelor—then pulled the rug out from underneath him and made Chris the Bachelor.” Ouch that suuuucks. But in all seriousness who would actually agree to being the Bachelor after already being screwed over once? Seems a little desperate/crazy, no?

 

Hit like if you think @Seanloweksu was 100 times the bachelor Juan Pablo was #TexasGentleman

A post shared by Arie (@ariejr) on

 

He’s bilingual!

He might live in Arizona now, but Arie was actually born in ’s-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands (a.k.a. Den Bosch) and is fluent in Dutch. K that’s hot.

 

Good to be back home in Den Bosch

A post shared by Arie (@ariejr) on

 

Lastly—and probs most importantly—Reality Steve is *not* a fan

Bless Reality Steve and his lack of filter. Following the GMA announcement, the Bachelor Nation expert posted this v. harsh tweet.

 

 

As if calling him a literal “load of crap” wasn’t enough to get his point across. Reality Steve later tweeted an excerpt from Courtney Robinson’s book, I Didn’t Come Here to Make Friends, that basically insinuates Arie is a two-timing player.

 

 

He’s ALSO speculating that Arie might have literally *just* gotten out of a relationship and apparently his inbox is blowing up with tips on our newest Bachelor.

 

 

Well, we’re off to a great start.

Filed under: ABC, Arie, The Bachelor