Will Arie Luyendyk live up to his reputation for being the Kissing Bandit on the upcoming season of The Bachelor? All signs point to yes.
Five years before he landed the Bachelor gig, Arie Luyendyk kissed his way through Emily Maynard’s season of The Bachelorette, something that earned him the nickname, “The Kissing Bandit.” Although Emily didn’t give Arie her final rose, she didn’t seem to mind being in a constant lip lock with Arie in the episodes leading up to his on-screen dumping.
On January 1, fans will get to see Arie’s his lips in action when Season 22 ofThe Bachelor gets underway. However, the 36-year-old former race car driver told ABC that he was “determined not to kiss anyone” when he filmed the first episode of the season back in September.
So, did Arie cave and kiss one (or more) of his 29 girls on night one?
Arie may have been determined to keep his lips to himself during the first day of filming, but that didn’t last long. There’s word that he kissed at least two girls and ABC shared a video that shows him going in for the kiss right in the driveway of the Bachelor mansion.
The girl in the video above is contestant Brittany Taylor, 30, a tech recruiter from Columbia, South Carolina. We won’t spoil how far she makes it with Arie, but we will let you know that she’s not the only girl he kisses on the first night.
And locking lips with two girls is just a primer for the Bachelor. He admits that he loves kissing and tells ABC he thinks getting physical is an important part of a relationship.
"“As far as kissing throughout the season, I think it’s just when that moment sort of feels right, so yeah, I’m a romantic and I do love kissing. I feel like the physical side of a relationship is important, so yeah, there will be some kissing.”"
Will Arie kiss all 29 girls? Maybe …and let’s hope he has an endless amount of Chapstick.
Next: Arie was supposed to be the Bachelor instead of Chris Soules
Watch the Bachelor premiere on January 1, 2018, at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.