Yes, that actually happened on The Bachelor finale last night.
All The Bachelor spoilers you had read about, yet had difficulty believing, actually became a reality:
Arie Luyendyk Jr really did propose to Becca Kurfin in Peru, selecting her as the winner of his season and his heart…
… only to turn around a short while later and dump her for runner-up Lauren!
For real, people!
“Sometimes when I’m on these little getaways with Becca I think about, What would this be like with Lauren?” Arie told the camera during the third hour of this stunning finale, adding:
“It just kills me, because I have a great woman next to me. I go to bed and I think about Lauren. I wake up and I think about Lauren. And I know Becca sees when I struggle.
“She sees the fact that my mind is somewhere else. She knows that I think about Lauren.”
Explaining his “guilt” and how he made a big “mistake”to viewers, Arie later welcomed Becca to Los Angeles, sat her down on the couch – and dumped her!
“The reality of it is that being with you, although it’s been everything that I wanted, I still think about [Lauren],” Arie told Becca, earning points for honest… we guess.
“Are you f-cing kidding me?” Becca replies after Arie admits he wants to see if there’s a “possibility” for him and Lauren.
This scene, of course, was filmed several weeks ago.
How does Becca feel about the shocking and emotional development now?
“He’s a good person, I don’t think he’s a monster and purposely did this to hurt me and make me feel this way,” Kurfin tells People Magazine, expounding as follows:
“But it’s just the result of his actions.
“At the end of the day, I don’t think he thought through everything of how ending things with Lauren would be, how being engaged to me would be and what breaking up with me and going back to her would be.
“I don’t think he thought it through, but I don’t think he did it maliciously to break my heart.”
That’s a mature way to look at things. And likely an accurate one.
Arie is getting roasted over every Internet coal right now, but would it have been better if he denied his feelings for Lauren, stayed with Becca and broke up with her prior to the wedding anyway?
Only one of 22 Bachelors has ever actually married the woman he chose on the finale.
This type of matchmaking simply does not work and perhaps Arie should actually get some kudos for being honest with himself and realizing what he needed to do before it was too late.
Not that anyone can blame Kurfin for her bitter feelings.
“I never thought for a million years that once the going started to get tough that he would throw in the towel and jump ship and say, ‘Oh sorry, I changed my mind,"” she now says to People.
“I didn’t think we were at that point whatsoever.”
Becca also blames Arie for doing the heartbreaking deed in front of ABC cameras, which is a very good point.
She says getting dumped in this manner was “embarrassing” and adds:
“There was a better and more tactful way to do it.
“A breakup is hard enough, and to have it all filmed and have to re-watch it and know that people all across the country are watching you get your heart broken, it is embarrassing. It’s not fun.
“I wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy. It was like a slap in the face.”
The two-hour After the Rose special airs tonight on ABC.
We’ll discover the status of Arie and Lauren’s relationship during this unique episode of the show.
Becca is quick to say she doesn’t blame Lauren for her role in this debacle of a romance, just Arie for how he handled the whole thing.
But she’ll be just fine in the end.
“At the end of the day I wouldn’t’ change the experience because I met so many amazing people and I fell in love and I had this great experience and memories,” she concludes to People.
“I’m still going to feel a sense of compassion for him because I did love him but at this point, I want him to be happy, I want to be done and not have to worry about them anymore.
“They’re going to be together and do their thing. I wanted to move on and have my person that I can focus on and live my life with. At the end of the day, I do forgive him.”
And, hey, perhaps she’ll end up as The Bachelorette!
