(Spoiler alert: Please do not read on if you haven’t watched Monday night’s finale of “The Bachelor”)
“The Bachelor” contestant Becca Kufrin doesn’t think Arie Luyendyk Jr. is “a monster” despite Monday’s gut-wrenching finale, but wishes he would’ve handled the breakup differently.
“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. But it’s just the result of his actions,” Kufrin told People. “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,” she added.
Bachelor Nation saw one of the most dramatic finales in the ABC dating show’s history on Monday, when Luyendyk proposed to Kufrin in Peru after sending Lauren B., his other final contestant, home. However, Arie soon realized he had made a mistake and couldn’t get over his other woman, and had ABC film a dramatic breakup that the network claims was completely unedited.
Arie later told his fiancee, “I go to bed and I think about Lauren, and I get up and I think about Lauren.” Ouch. And so he switched girls.
“Are you f—ing kidding me?” Becca said when he delivered the bad news, with cameras rolling.
“It was embarrassing the way he broke up with me with the full cameras and crew around,” Kufrin told People. “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.”
This isn’t the first time a Bachelor has changed his mind after the fact.
In 2009, single dad Jason Mesnick picked Melissa Rycroft over Molly Malaney after a very tearful breakup with Molly (his “balcony cry” has gone down in the show’s history as a moment to judge all other cries against). But during the “After the Final Rose” episode, he admitted to host Chris Harrison that he just couldn’t stop thinking about Molly.
Molly then came out from backstage, and told him she’d take him back. The two got married about a year later — filmed on ABC — and recently celebrated eight years together. They have two kids.
Tune in Tuesday night for a sure-to-be dramatic and tearful “After the Final Rose” on ABC at 8 p.m., during which the next Bachelorette will also be revealed.
'The Bachelor': 9 Most Awkward Hometown Dates (Photos)
Take a look back at the most awkward hometown dates before Nick Viall meets the families of the last four women.
ABC
Sean Lowe and Desiree Hartsock ("Bachelor" Season 17) When Sean Lowe visited Desiree Hartsock's home in 2013, her brother didn't shy away from telling him how he really felt. "So far from being here, what I've seen from you, I believe that she's really into you, but you're not into her," Hartsock's brother said, adding that he thinks Lowe is a playboy.
ABC
JoJo Fletcher and Ben Higgins ("Bachelor" Season 20) Despite Ben Higgins being grilled by JoJo Fletcher's family on her hometown date, the date started off on the wrong foot even before Higgins arrived. Before he got to Fletcher's Dallas home, Fletcher talked to her ex-boyfriend Chad on the phone which left her very emotional, and her entire date with Higgins consisted of her talking about Chad. In retrospect, Higgins said he was absolutely sure she would break up with him and get back with her ex.
ABC
Kirk DeWindt and Ali Fedotowsky ("Bachelorette" Season 6) Kirk DeWindt's dad took Ali Fedotowsky on a basement tour, where all his dead animals were located and mounted on walls. Kirk did not survive that week's rose ceremony, but at least he wasn't added to the family trophy collection.
ABC
Naomi Crespo and Jason Mesnick ("Bachelor" Season 13) When Naomi Crespo took Jason Mesnick home in 2009, her mother dramatically told a tale of a dove hitting her windshield. However, she finished the story by producing the dead bird in a paper bag which had been hulled up in a freezer until she had her daughter's suitor home to help bury and eulogize the bird. He did, and later, her dad gave Jason (a Jew) a Bible lesson, saying if he wouldn't believe in Jesus, his marriage would be doomed.
ABC
Tenley Molzahn and Jake Pavelka ("Bachelor" Season 14)
When Tenley Molzahn brought Jake Pavelka home, she decided to share her love for dancing with him. However, she didn't dance with him but for him, and everyone (including Jake) was super uncomfortable.
ABC
Vienna Girardi and Jake Pavelka ("Bachelor" Season 14) After Vienna Girardi's dad told Jake Pavelka his daughter needed to be treated like a princess, he busted into the room while Jake and Vienna were cuddling on her bed, reminding them he was "right outside the door."
ABC
Amanda Stanton and Ben Higgins ("Bachelor" Season 20) Amanda Stanton took Ben Higgins home to meet her daughters, Charlie and Kinsley and it was the sweetest reunion -- which quickly turned sinister when Ben realized how difficult it was for Amanda to keep her kids happy and in control in a van. And although it was super important for Amanda to have Ben meet her children, he dumped her the following week.
ABC
Chris Soules and Whitney Bischoff ("Bachelor" season 19) Chris Soules arrived in Chicago and Whitney Bischoff immediately asked him whether he wanted to make a baby. Of course, that was her transition to taking him to her job at a fertility office. Later, she made him think he was going to give his sperm ... which he didn't seem too opposed to.
ABC
Matt Grant and Amanda Rantuccio ("Bachelor" Season 12) Matt Grant went to meet Amanda Rantuccio's family in Tallahassee, Florida, where she decided to hire actors to play her parents. Among other awkward moments, Rantuccio's fake mom asked Matt to flex for her and flirted with him, while rubbing his nipple and leaning in to kiss him. When Rantuccio decided to let Grant in on the prank, he said: "I was just speechless for a few seconds. I can't believe I got done like that. I can't believe I fell for it ... That was very, very funny even though it was at my expense."
ABC
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From ex-boyfriends to fertility clinics, see which hometown dates have been the most uncomfortable on “The Bachelor” and “The Bachelorette”
Take a look back at the most awkward hometown dates before Nick Viall meets the families of the last four women.