The Bachelor’s Jason and Molly Mesnick would have had some words of advice for Arie Luyendyk Jr. before he called it quits with winner Becca Kufrin during the season 22 finale of the show that aired on Monday, March 5.
“After watching the finale, Jason and I both wished Arie would have reached out before doing anything. Our first piece of advice, most certainly, would have been to break up privately,” the pair told Us Weekly. “Unfortunately it didn’t happen that way, but Arie knows he messed up.”
The reality star couple also faced some backlash in 2009 after Jason, 41, broke up with his season’s winner, Melissa Rycroft, on After the Final Rose after revealing that he still had feelings for Molly. “Becca handled it like a pro and has completely moved forward. Honestly, seeing where Jason, Melissa and myself are today, they will all be JUST fine and we’re rooting for all of them!” they told Us.
Molly also shared her thoughts via Twitter about the real estate agent after he did the same thing as her husband. “Wouldn’t you consider learning from the mistakes of those before you —maybe call and ask what NOT to do… like filming the breakup?” she wrote on Monday. Jason also took to Twitter to comment on the finale. When a fan asked if Arie reached out to him before calling off his engagement to Becca, Jason wrote: “No, I wish he could have.”
Arie, 36, was on Good Morning America on Wednesday, March 7, and explained his decision to show the breakup on TV. “I really wanted everyone to know that this was on me,” he said. “It was my fault, and I felt like filming that would let people know that, that if there were any questions on the breakup, that those would be squashed if they saw the breakup.”
Chris Harrison announced that Kufrin, 27, will be the next Bachelorette during After the Final Rose on Tuesday, March 6. Arie added that he thought that by showing the breakup and how she handled it, ABC would see that she would be a good fit for The Bachelorette.
“Honestly, I wanted her that opportunity to be the potential Bachelorette,” Arie said. “I hope I gave her that closure. I’m very happy for her. I’m happy that she’s going to be able to find her true love through the show.”
He also commented on the backlash he’s received about the public breakup and about his new relationship with Lauren Burnham, who he proposed to on After the Final Rose. “This ending obviously wasn’t perfect. I know it’s difficult for a lot of people to swallow but I’m happy,” he said. “It took a long, hard road to get here but I’m really solid in my relationship and we’ve been together since January and it’s going really well.”
