As you know, Arie Luyendyk Jr. dumped his girlfriend to become the Bachelor, so we guess that he proven that he’s dedicated to playing the leading man.
But just in case you thought that this isn’t really happening, Arie’s already begun filming his season of The Bachelor.
And we’ve now seen the first photo of him in the Bachelor Mansion, just heartbeats before he meets this season’s contestants.
Since being chosen for this year’s leading man, Arie Luyendyk Jr. has purged his entire Instagram and retconned it into a Bachelor fanblog.
And we guess that he won’t be making a lot of updates any time soon, since he’ll have his hands full … mostly just figuratively.
Though Peter Kraus has endorsed The Bachelor showrunners’ choice to pass over him for the role despite his status as a fan favorite, the choice of Arie is contentious.
In part because he was so, so unexpected.
(Showrunners picked Arie specifically because they didn’t want viewers and blogs to feel like they were going to be able to predict everything, which … sure is a decision)
In part because it seems less like Arie is looking for love and more like he just wants to play that role.
And, well, in part because there are a lot of people who had hopes for others (not just Peter Kraus) to be the leading man.
Mike Fleiss, creator of The Bachelor and apparently feeling confident about the decision for this new season’s leading man, tweeted out this photo of Arie on the set.
Mike Fleiss included the caption:
“Guess who’s back? Back again. Arie’s back. Tell a friend. #TheBachelor #JanuArie”
They’re in the Bachelor Mansion, and this was apparently right before Arie met the women contesting for his hand.
Mike Fleiss also tweeted out this teaser:
“Fantastic group of women. @ariejr has got some tough choices to make tonite…”
We truly do not know which women will be contestants, so that will be very interesting to find out.
Some fo the promotional work for Arie hasn’t gone over as smoothly as we’re sure that producers might have hoped.
For example, in different promo pics, Arie manages to look young with dark hair and to have a salt-and-pepper look.
Some men gray earlier than others, and some people want a “silver fox” over a younger look, but … you don’t want to promote the same guy as being both, just in the hopes of reaching both crowds.
The most positive review that anyone has had of Arie Luyendyk Jr. has been by his ex, Courtney Robertson, who says that Arie’s the best at boning.
That’s high praise from anyone, but especially from a Bachelor Villain.
But, no matter how good he is in pound town, he’ll need a lot of charisma on camera if he wants to win the affections of the Bachelor Nation.
(He can’t bone the entire dang fandom)
The first real Arie Luyendyk Jr. promo emphasizes his lifestyle as a racecar driver.
In fact, any contestant should be aware that Arie leads an eventful life and tends to travel.
Anyone who becomes his partner is going to be either spending a lot of time at home without him or a lot of time traveling with him.
For some, either of those situations could be ideal.
For others … it could be a deal-breaker.
