Here's why Bachelor Arie Luyendyk didn't really pull a Mesnick

If you think Bachelor Arie Luyendyk’s season finale will turn out like Jason Mesnick’s After the Final Rose showdown, think again. It’s even worse.

When Chris Harrison says the two-night Bachelor season finale will be the most dramatic finale in the history of the show, he’s not kidding. What Arie Luyendyk did after the final rose ceremony pales in comparison to Jason Mesnick’s change of heart.

While it’s perfectly okay for anyone to change their mind if their heart is truly with someone else, how Arie handled himself after he handed out his final rose is what sets him apart from Jason.

Before we get to what Arie did that will have fans screaming at their TV, let’s briefly address Jason’s Bachelor finale…

Jason’s breakup with his final pick was staged by producers

Jason Mesnick’s season of The Bachelor aired in 2009. He got engaged to Melissa Rycroft during the final rose ceremony. After the finale was taped, Jason realized he made a mistake — he was in love with runner-up Molly Malaney.

Jason ended his engagement to Melissa one month after he taped the finale, but producers kept that a secret ‚— they wanted him to breakup on live TV during the After the Final Rose special. Producers wanted fans to feel sorry for Melissa and planned to make her the next Bachelorette (the gig eventually was given to Jillian Harris).

Jason tells the Huffington Post that he wasn’t allowed to contact Molly until they appeared on stage together during the After the Final Rose special. Why? Because it all made for good TV.

"“‘Because we’re going to let you ask Molly out, and you can’t do that away from the camera because you’re under a five million dollar contract (to not make contact with the runner-up), we need your help to have America feel for Melissa…The fans just need to feel sorry for Melissa. Work with us and we’ll let you have Molly.’ That’s what they told me.”"

Why is Jason’s season finale different from the outcome of Arie’s season?

The term “pulled a Mesnick” is a familiar one in the Bachelor world. However, we don’t think this applies to Arie. [Spoilers ahead]

It’s not a big secret that Arie proposed and then broke off his engagement to Becca Kufrin. It’s splashed all over tabloid magazines, online and in print.

And most fans now know Arie had a change of heart and wanted another chance with his runner-up, Lauren Burnham.

Of course, that sounds totally Mesnick-like, right? There is a difference.

Arie spent “couples weekends” with Becca several times after they got engaged in Peru (November). They even spent New Year’s Eve together in New York City.

Two months after he got engaged, he started to have second thoughts about Lauren and called her one day after he rang in the New Year with Becca.

Two weeks later, he and Becca planned another couples weekend together (per Reality Steve) at a house that was provided by producers. Becca assumed it was a normal get together with her man, but it wasn’t.

This will all play out on Tuesday night’s AFTR, but Arie reportedly KNEW he was going there to break up with her, but didn’t tell her. And he didn’t tell her cameras were going to be there to film the breakup — instead, she was told by either Arie or producers that they were going to film an update about their relationship.

Blindsided

Okay, it sounds a bit like Jason when he was manipulated into breaking up with Melissa on TV, right? Not exactly.

We don’t know if producers told Arie he had to break up with Becca with cameras rolling, but if he knew that was going to happen, why didn’t he give Becca the heads up?!

At least Jason TOLD Melissa long before the ATFR was filmed. Becca was totally blindsided.

And it gets even shadier…

According to Reality Steve, Arie told Becca that their breakup had nothing to do with runner-up Lauren Burnham.

Really?

Cameras followed Arie to Lauren’s parents’ house in Virginia after he broke up with Becca. Somehow, he managed to get Lauren back after dumping her at the final rose ceremony and dating Becca for two months.

It’s fine that Arie had a change of heart, but if Becca confirms during Tuesday night’s ATFR that Arie told her that their breakup had nothing to do with Lauren, that’s a huge lie.

Just six weeks after he broke off his engagement with Becca, blogger Kate Kasey told Reality Steve off that a film crew was at a romantic beach-front setup in Dana Point, California, the same place Jade and Tanner (Bachelor in Paradise) got married.

Although Steve isn’t 100% certain, he said that he’s fairly sure Arie and Lauren got engaged (with cameras rolling) and Lauren is moving into Arie’s Arizona home after the show ends.

How is this different than Jason’s relationship with Molly?

More from Accept This Rose

Jason admits that he broke up with Melissa one month after they got engaged — the breakup fans saw was reportedly staged by producers. Jason dated Molly for 10 months before he proposed to her. They just celebrated their 8th wedding anniversary.

Arie was engaged to Becca for two months. He was talking to Lauren for at least two weeks while he was still engaged to Becca.

Becca thought she was having a normal couple’s weekend (mid-January) and cameras were there to films a relationship update. Instead, he was there to break up with her — with cameras rolling!

And, if it is true that Arie got engaged to Lauren two weeks ago, clearly his breakup with Becca DID have to do with Lauren.

Can we blame Lauren? No. She probably didn’t know Arie allowed cameras to film his split with Becca. But she did know that they were still together when she was talking with Arie, so there’s that.

Jason and Arie — two Bachelor stars with controversial season finales. Will Arie admit to being manipulated by producers or did he create this hot mess on his own?

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Here’s why Bachelor Arie Luyendyk didn’t really pull a Mesnick – it’s worse

By Ruby Maxwell | Mar 5, 2018