NightLife Magazine NightLife Magazine
AURELIE CORINTHIOS
Bachelor Nation, we made it to the finish line.
On Monday’s three-hour season finale, Arie Luyendyk Jr., 36, made his final choice between publicist Becca Kufrin, 27, and sales executive Lauren Burnham, 26 — but how he came to his decision was unlike anything we’ve seen before.
SPOILER WARNING: The following contains major spoilers from Monday’s finale. Read on at your own risk.
The final week of dates opens in Cusco, Peru, where Arie is still torn between his finalists. Making the situation even stickier is the fact that he’s told both women he loves them — but neither of them knows he’s also professed his love to the other.
“I’m in love with Becca and I’m in love with Lauren, and I told them both that I love them — so I don’t even know how I’m going to deal with that,” he says. “At the end of all this, I have to break someone’s heart. And that makes that decision very tough.”
On the one hand, there’s Becca. She’s been a frontrunner from the beginning — landing the first one-on-one date of the season — and their relationship has remained solid throughout.
“With Becca, I know who she is,” explains Arie. “She’s laid all the cards out on the table. She’s got great values, she loves her family, she’s funny and goofy and sexy at the same time. It’s so comfortable with her. I don’t really have any worries about us after this, and that really gives me a lot of comfort.”
Then there’s Lauren. One of four Laurens cast this season, she’s been one of the most quiet and reserved contestants this franchise has ever seen — but all along, Arie has been drawn to her.
“With Lauren, there’s a little bit more of a risk just because I feel like through this whole thing she’s been so reserved,” he says. “There were always these intense feelings, from the moment I met her, and I was sort of peeling back these layers of someone and figuring them out. But I can see how much she loves me, and that gives me a lot of confidence.”
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