Following the finale of The Bachelor, Becca Kufrin was left heartbroken in L.A. when Arie Luyendyk Jr. showed up to what she thought was a private weekend together only to end their engagement. During the After the Final Rose special on Tuesday, March 6, viewers saw that Arie then traveled to Virginia Beach to meet up with Lauren Burnham, and she easily took him back. After that aired, Becca joined Chris Harrison on stage.
However, she wasn’t emotional — she calmly revealed that she felt better after watching Lauren and Arie’s reunion. “Watching it back, it honestly helps me get some closure,” she said. “I signed up for this, knowing it was a show and going to be documented and it’s just another part of my story.”
She explained that she and Arie had been making plans, looking at a house, etc., and then a week before Arie ended their relationship, Arie told her he called Lauren and admitted to his fiancée that he still had feelings for his ex. “I just didn’t know, at all, to what extent,” Becca admitted. “Now that I’ve seen all sides of this story and where his heart lies, I wasn’t for him. I would never want him to feel like he was in a relationship where he was trapped. If I’m not the one, I’m not the one.”
Arie then came on stage to face Becca for the first time since their split, and she immediately had questions. When asked when he knew that he wanted to end things, he admitted it was when he spoke to Lauren on the phone. He also revealed that he wanted their breakup scene to air on TV, unedited, so that the world could see it was entirely on him, not on Becca.
He said he felt an “emptiness” after they got back from Peru as he was “mourning” his relationship with Lauren. When Chris Harrison if he had any regrets, he said proposing to Becca, which he said he did because of “the pressure of being The Bachelor.”
“You robbed me of that. I’ll never have that first engagement, first proposal again,” Becca told him. “I understand that it’s a very high pressure situation, I just wish that you would have thought through that.” He later admitted he should not have proposed but instead just dated her and figured out what he really wanted. “When we did get engaged, I gave it as much effort as I could,” he noted. “I was conflicted, my heart was conflicted.”
Ultimately, Becca said she accepted his apology and forgave him. “It’s hard but you learn from everything,” she said. “I do want you to be happy. I hope that Lauren is your one and that you have found that happiness with her. I just want you to be honest with her and hold her heart high, have the most respect for her, be committed to her.”
