Let the games begin! Arie Luyendyk Jr. returned to the Bachelor mansion on Wednesday, September 20, to begin filming season 22 of the ABC reality dating series.
Franchise creator Mike Fleiss gave fans a first glimpse of the professional race car driver, 35, looking dapper in a classic black suit during his first night on set. “Guess who’s back? Back again. Arie’s back. Tell a friend. #TheBachelor #JanuArie,” the producer tweeted alongside a photo of Bachelor host Chris Harrison, Luyendyk Jr., ABC executive Robert Mills and himself.
In a follow-up tweet, Fleiss promised that the upcoming season includes a “fantastic group of women,” adding that Luyendyk Jr. “has got some tough choices to make” during the first rose ceremony.
Guess who’s back? Back again. Arie’s back. Tell a friend. #TheBachelor #JanuArie pic.twitter.com/XaooVeuZ6U
— Mike Fleiss (@fleissmeister) September 21, 2017
Fantastic group of women. @ariejr has got some tough choices to make tonite… #thebachelor
— Mike Fleiss (@fleissmeister) September 21, 2017
Fans of Bachelorette season 13 runner-up Peter Kraus, who was rumored to be in the running to lead season 22 of The Bachelor, continued to voice their divided opinions in response to Fleiss’ tweets. “I bet the girls were pissed to find Not Peter as the bachelor,” one disappointed viewer wrote. Another quipped, “What’s the return policy?”
However, Kraus, 32, doesn’t have any hard feelings toward ABC or Luyendyk Jr. He thanked the network for treating him “with such love and kindness” in a recent Instagram post, which he concluded with a valuable lesson he learned during his time on The Bachelorette: “When you let uncertainty or fear guide your decisions, you risk missing out on what could potentially be the greatest opportunity of a life time. So live dangerously, live without the fear of the unknown, and continue to live and love with a heart that is truly open to anything.”
The Bachelor returns to ABC in January 2018.
