To the shock of the show’s fans, he was announced last week as ABC’s next Bachelor.
And 35-year-old race car driver Arie Luyendyk, Jr. certainly seemed to have a lot on his mind as he walked his dog in Scottsdale, Arizona, where he resides.
Arie stepped out Thursday wearing a sky blue button-down shirt with navy trousers.
Out and about: New Bachelor Arie Luyendyk Jr. looked lost in thought as he walked his dog in Scottsdale, Arizona, where he lives
The reality star looked as though he had a lot on his mind as he checked his phone.
The dashing Dutchman vied unsuccessfully for Emily Maynard’s hand on the 2012 eighth season of The Bachelorette, making it to second place.
On the finale of that season – the episode during which Emily sent Arie home – she’d wound up picking Arie’s then-pal Jef Holm, but the couple split up months later.
The look: He’d stepped out Thursday wearing a sky blue button-down shirt with navy trousers
After Arie’s new gig was announced on Good Morning America last Thursday, Jef enigmatically tweeted: ‘Oh the stories I could tell…’.
While replying to a tweet from RealitySteve that day, Jef claimed further that ‘I stopped being friends with [Arie] years ago because he’s disgusting’.
Sydney Stempfley, Arie’s ex-girlfriend, recently dished about their relationship to Entertainment Tonight, saying his new role as The Bachelor ‘blindsided’ her.
As she’s told it, they began dating last July and broke up this summer, a few weeks before the news broke that Arie was to lead the ABC show’s 22nd season.
History: The dashing Dutchman had vied unsuccessfully for Emily Maynard’s hand on the 2012 eighth season of The Bachelorette, making it to second place
Sydney described their split: ‘It was very emotional. You know, you’re trying to get answers and you can’t. I couldn’t really get a definite answer.’
She also noted, apropos their split: ‘I’ve never seen him cry, ever. I could tell that he was emotional, but there wasn’t tears on his end.’
Sydney said she would ‘like to think’ the split wasn’t Bachelor-related.
‘You can only believe what someone tells you, so, you know, there’s no proof that he had been auditioning or talking to producers at that point. The only thing I have to go off of is his word,’ she said.
Throwback to 2012: They’re pictured on that season’s After The Final Rose special
Four days before the Good Morning America announcement, Sydney had been a touch less diplomatic when discussing Arie.
Mike Fleiss, creator of The Bachelor, tweeted September 3: ‘I work for you, #BachelorNation … Trying to make the best possible decision. Not easy!’
Ex-Bachelor Sean Lowe – who is married to Catherine Giudici who he picked on the show, – quoted Mike’s tweet andwrote: ‘May I suggest @ariejr?’
In reply to Sean’s tweet, Sydney vamped: ‘The show would be perfect for @ariejr up until it comes to choosing just one,’ adding an emoji that was crying from laughter.
The way they were: His ex-girlfriend Sydney Stempfley told Entertainment Tonight they broke up a few weeks before the casting announcement, and that his new gig ‘blindsided’ her
A sector of Bachelor Nation was in high dudgeon over Arie’s casting, some because they’d expected the gig to go to Peter Kraus of The Bachelorette’s 13th season.
Rachel Lindsay had emotionally sent a distraught Peter home during the season finale, after he refused to commit to proposing to her the next day.
When the next day came, Rachel accepted Bryan Abasolo’s castle-top proposal in the Spanish countryside – as shown on that finale, which aired last month.
Keeping the faith: Sydney said she would ‘like to think’ the split wasn’t Bachelor-related
Peter recently spoke toEntertainment Tonight, and though he wouldn’t rule out a future gig as The Bachelor, he did maintain that the show’s upcoming season ‘wasn’t a good time for me.’
He said: ‘It was such an emotional roller coaster. I didn’t feel like I had enough time to process the season and After The Final Rose, and where I was at in my own life at the time. I needed more time for clarity.’
The personal trainer confessed: ‘I’m the type of person who needs maybe too much time to process things when it comes to life and love…when I’m talking about my wife and my future, I want to take time to really think about it.’
Rollout: His casting was announced on Good Morning America last Thursday