The Bachelor is always a reliable source of primetime melodrama, but the latest season ended on a note that provided even more drama than usual when leading man Arie Luyendyk earned the ire of fans everywhere by dumping the woman he had proposed to on camera after tricking her into thinking they were going on a romantic vacation. Viewers did not respond well for how Arie dumped Becca Kufrin for Lauren Burnham, and he'll undoubtedly go down as one of the most disliked Bachelor men of all time. As one of the other most disliked Bachelor men, Juan Pablo Galavis shared his thoughts on the dislike of Arie:
You know, I feel bad for him. Because at the end of the day... you just get to be with that person for [around] 40 hours, so you don't know them that well. . . . If he followed his heart and the other one was the girl, I guess it's right.
Juan Pablo Galavis was the leading man of The Bachelor back in Season 18, and he's not exactly a fan-favorite. Unlike the debacle that now has Arie the subject of such intense dislike that there are literally billboards decrying his actions, Juan Pablo didn't do just one big objectionable thing to alienate fans. He's just considered by many as an unlikable contestant, which does give him a unique perspective on what Arie is currently facing. Juan Pablo's comments that he feels bad for Arie indicate that he still believes a season of The Bachelor isn't long enough to fall in love. He notably ended Season 18 without proposing to any of the women he'd spent episodes wooing, and his post-show relationship with the "winner" didn't last.
All of this said, Juan Pablo also admitted in his chat with ET that he hasn't watched any seasons of The Bachelor before or after Season 18, so he didn't actually see how Arie behaved during his time in the spotlight. Still, if all the criticism, social media complaints, and billboards ever get to Arie, maybe he should call up Juan Pablo for a sympathetic ear. Of course, Juan Pablo isn't exactly upset that Arie is the new Bachelor victim. He said this about how Arie's actions compare to his own:
He smashed me!
Thanks to Arie Luyendyk's actions on The Bachelor (and perhaps his attempt at explaining why he did what he did), he may have usurped Juan Pablo Galavis' place as the most disliked Bachelor bachelor of franchise history, and Juan Pablo doesn't seem too broken up about it. It should be interesting to see if Arie is ever going to be able to escape the stigma of how he ended things with Becca Kufrin. Bachelor fans clearly haven't forgotten Juan Pablo; maybe they won't forget Arie or his actions either.
We'll have to wait and see. The Bachelor is done for the time, but The Bachelorette will be back in May with Becca herself as the leading lady. For what you can watch in the meantime, take a look at our midseason TV premiere guide and our 2018 Netflix premiere schedule.
