The news may not have fully sunk in yet for many fans of The Bachelor, but ABC is wasting no time in hammering home its stunning decision:
Arie Luyendyk Jr. really is the next star of this franchise.
Yes, Arie Luyendyk Jr,; Not Peter Kraus or any of the supposed contenders heading into next season.
Arie Luyendyk Jr. was the runner-up on the 2012 season of The Bachelorette and… well… hasn"t been heard from very much since then.
But ABC decided to shock viewers by announcing Arie as the next Bachelor, and now it"s gone ahead and released the first promo for his new season.
Yes, already.
In the trailer below, we get an actual glimpse at Luyendyk in this role, along with a few quality racecar puns.
(Did we mention Arie is a racecar driver?)
"Hearts will race," the teaser states, including with it footage of Arie from Emily"s season in 2012 and shots of him from the unexpected reveal on Good Morning America.
"I was a little skeptical because we"d been in talks for a few years about doing it, so I just kind of went into it with an open heart, an open mind," he said on GMA. "It just hit me that yeah, I"m here."
Arie was supposedly under consideration in the past, losing out once to Sean Lowe and once to Chris Soules.
Known as The Kissing Bandit because he"s very good at the game of tonsil hockey, there is a bit of controversy already surrounding Luyendyk.
There"s also a lot of mixed reaction to his selection, as you can see here:
"We chose Arie because he"s great," says Chris Harrison, adding:
"I love Arie, I"m a little biased because he"s a friend of mine and I"ve known him for several years, so I"m actually really excited he"s the Bachelor.
"I think he"s a very sincere good gentleman and I think he"ll be a good one."
The new season of The Bachelor kicks off in January.
Check out the first preview now:
