SPOILER WARNING: This story contains major spoilers from Monday’s Bachelor finale.
On Monday’s three-hour season finale of the Bachelor, Arie Luyendyk Jr., 36, made his choice between Becca Kufrin, 27, and Lauren Burnham, 26, with his decision shocking viewers.
ABC previously said in a press release that the finale would “rock Bachelor Nation to its core.”
Luyendyk Jr. told both women he loves them but neither of them knew he professed his love to the other.
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“I’m in love with Becca and I’m in love with Lauren, and I told them both that I love them — so I don’t even know how I’m going to deal with that,” he says. “At the end of all this, I have to break someone’s heart. And that makes that decision very tough.”
“With Becca, I know who she is,” the Bachelor explains. “She’s laid all the cards out on the table. She’s got great values, she loves her family, she’s funny and goofy and sexy at the same time. It’s so comfortable with her. I don’t really have any worries about us after this, and that really gives me a lot of comfort.”
“With Lauren, there’s a little bit more of a risk just because I feel like through this whole thing she’s been so reserved,” he says. “There were always these intense feelings, from the moment I met her, and I was sort of peeling back these layers of someone and figuring them out. But I can see how much she loves me, and that gives me a lot of confidence.”
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In the end, Luyendyk Jr. chooses Kufrin to be his bride.
But during the After The Rose show immediately following the Bachelor finale, Luyendyk Jr. reveals that they are no longer in a relationship together.
He called things off with Kufrin and rekindled his romance with the runner-up Burnham.
After the proposal was aired, the show cut to Luyendyk Jr. and Kufrin in a hammock. They’re “alone and in love,” Kufrin says.
Various shots are shown of the pair playing chess together, tossing pizza dough, doing dishes and kissing in a backyard.
Arie confides in the viewers, and reveals that when he’s out and about with Kufrin, he thinks about what things might’ve been with Burnham. He says he feels an “immense amount of guilt” about what this means for him and Kufrin.
“It kills me that I’m going back on that, but I have to follow my heart,” he says.
Arie then walks towards Kufrin in the kitchen of a house. “How do I start this conversation?” he says.
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“For me, the more I hung out with you, the more I felt like I was losing the possibility of maybe reconciling things with Lauren,” he says to her.
“So what?” she responds. “You want to be back with her.”
“I want to see if there’s that possibility,” he tells her.
“Are you f**king kidding me?” Kufrin says in shock.
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Many Bachelor fans on Twitter could not believe Luyendyk Jr. ended the engagement so quickly after the proposal.
During the After The Rose episode, Kufrin called the breakup “brutal.”
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ABC revealed that there will be a two-part After The Final Rose airing Tuesday, March 6 at 8 p.m. ET/PT, which will also feature Luyendyk Jr. and Burnham.
Before the Bachelor finale aired, rumours began to swirl that Luyendyk Jr. had a change of heart after his proposal.
In an interview with E!, Luyendyk Jr. said that he hopes the Bachelor viewers will “understand me a lot more” after they get over his decision.
“This is my journey, and this is about finding a lasting love and that road is not always the easiest,” he said. “It’s all about the ending and finding that person for yourself and that’s the important part. I’m very happy.”