I have watched The Bachelor franchise for 6 years, and I have never disliked a contestant more than Arie Luyendky Jr. Before his season even started I was not thrilled because he was known to be a player and a cheater. Not only did he completely blindside and break up his fiance on national television, while showing little to no empathy or emotion, he also exposed himself as an emotional cheater. An emotional cheater is someone who channels emotional energy into someone else, who they are not in a committed relationship with, aka Arie Luyendky Jr.
Arie admitted on national television he slide into the DMS of his ex-girlfriend. Arie is 36 years old. Let that sink in. So yes, his ex-fiance, Becca, encouraged him to reach out to his ex-girlfriend, Lauren, in order to get closure so that him and Becca could start their life together as an engaged couple.
Astrid may be wrong on his age, he's 36, but she's saying what we're all thinking:
Becca did not tell him "hey, go tell Lauren you still think about her every day and that you think you made a mistake" and then proceed to get her confirmation that she will take you back. Funny he did not tell Becca when he actually reached out, until a week later.
I do not blame Arie for changing his mind, even though he should never have gotten down on one knee if he was not sure, I blame Arie for not breaking off his engagement before pouring out his emotions to Lauren. Going behind your partner's back and pouring your heart's emotions out to someone else is emotionally cheating, Arie.
If he was that madly in love with Lauren why did he need her confirmation that she would take him back before he dumped Becca? Well, he was hedging his bets. He was juggling two girls at once, shameful.
As a young female viewer, in the era of #MeToo and #TimesUp, it was very upsetting to see how a 36-year-old man can emotionally cheat and to have a tv show normalize this behavior. My only solace is that a strong independent woman, Becca, is the next Bachelorette and hopefully will lead the show in a better direction.
I have too many choice words for Arie so I am just going to let some of my favorite tweets speak for themselves:
