It"s been nearly three months since, to the Bachelor Nation"s collective surprise, Arie Luyendyk Jr. was announced as the next Bachelor. We"ve had time to get about as comfortable as we"ll ever be.
But we weren"t quite prepared for this trailer, where contestants are appearing for the first time alongside Arie as they compete for his heart.
As you"ll see in the video below, it"s … quite the spectacle.
In case anyone is still in denial, yes, this is really happening.
In just over a month, the next season of The Bachelor begins, and Arie will play the leading man.
No, there is no chance that it"s a fake-out and that Arie Luyendyk Jr. will be swapped out by Peter Kraus, why will barge in and sweep these contestants (and the viewers) off of their collective feet.
(For many reasons, though one is that Peter Kraus already has his comeback lined up)
Remember, folks, it"s not like they start filming in January. Reality television can surprise you, but it"s almost impossible to keep everything a secret when you film it all months in advance.
In fact, we already know Arie Luyendyk Jr."s final four. (Spoiler warning for that link, obviously)
If you don"t want spoilers, though, stick to the official trailers like the one in the video below.
We"ve already met the full cast of ladies.
Those are a lot of women whom ABC found and convinced to go on camera and pretend that Arie Luyendyk Jr. is the man of their dreams.
Okay, you know what? Maybe we"re being a little mean to Arie.
He"s a handsome man. You don"t have to be the literal most attractive man in the world to be a recognizably handsome dude.
He"s a racecar drivers, which must be exciting to some people (especially adrenaline junkies).
He travels a lot, which some people like.
And, for what it"s worth, Courtney Robertson says that Arie is "the best" at sex.
While most of the contestants won"t get to confirm that for themselves (this isn"t Bachelor in Paradise, folks), there"s still a lot about Arie to make him desirable to these contestants.
And Arie must be excited about this.
This isn"t his first bite at the apple — he was a major contender on The Bachelorette. And though most of us hadn"t really thought of him since, producers decided to give him another shot.
In fact, Arie was so pumped for this role that he broke up with his real-life girlfriend just two days before the official announcement that he was going to be The Bachelor.
That might not be the most romantic move, but it certainly shows drive and determination.
Different contestants are going to be looking for different traits, folks.
In the trailer below, you can see that ABC realized that he"s a controversial choice, so they"re really doing their best to hype him up.
We see clips of contestants singing his praises as a desirable match.
They"re also playing off of his racecar driving in the voiceover, because who can resist a good pun?
This trailer gives us confidence and reminds us that The Bachelor"s producers have sold audiences man after man for what feels like a thousand seasons.
They must know what they"re doing.
