Arie Luyendyk Jr. and Lauren Burnham’s relationship is full speed ahead!
ET sat down with the newly engaged Bachelor couple in New York City on Wednesday, where they revealed that despite Luyendyk only proposing about 12 hours earlier, they had already started the wedding planning process.
“The wedding planning has already begun, and I’ll be moving to Arizona [to live with Luyendyk] the last week of this month,” Burnham beamed.
“We plan to [get married this year],” Luyendyk added.
The two have had a lot to overcome just weeks into their relationship. Luyendyk quickly became one of the most controversial Bachelors ever when it was revealed that he ended his engagement to Becca Kufrin just weeks after filming the finale to pursue a relationship with his runner-up, Burnham. Then on Monday, Luyendyk and Kufrin’s brutal breakup was aired, unedited, during The Bachelor finale for the world to see.
Despite Luyendyk’s fiancee swap, Burnham welcomed him back with open arms. She told ET that her family (who sent Luyendyk into a panic attack during her hometown date) has “supported us wholeheartedly the whole time.” “They knew I was heartbroken when we broke up, and they supported me then, and when we decided to get back together, they supported that as well,” she insisted, adding that she’s not worried about Luyendyk breaking promises to her after breaking Kufrin’s heart.
“I am confident in [him],” she said. “We’ve had a lot of conversations about it, and I trust him and I don’t think that he would have taken such a huge risk and faced all of this backlash if he wasn’t really serious about this decision.”
During Tuesday’s After the Final Rose, Luyendyk admitted that he shouldn’t have proposed to Kufrin to begin with, but that she seemed like she would be a good wife, and was the safe choice. “It doesn’t make me upset to hear that, because I’m pretty sure in my limo ride home from the breakup, I actually said that myself,” Burnham shared. “I kind of knew that was why he made that decision, so I just understand it.”
“At the end of the show, there’s obviously a moment where you have to decide, and I was very confident in the person [Kufrin] was. I knew that for me, she was the type of person that I could see myself with and, logically, that made sense to me at the time,” Luyendyk explained. “But the heart wants what the heart wants. I kept thinking about Lauren and I realized it was something bigger that just the ideal relationship on paper.”
As for Luyendyk’s critics, he said he “doesn’t understand” where comments like Bekah Martinez calling him “manipulative” on ATFR come from. “I think part of being genuine is realizing that you make mistakes and you’re human, and not every relationship is going to be perfect. Not every Bachelor ending is going to be a fairy tale,” he expressed. “This is real. This is a real relationship, and it does hurt me that they said those things, but we’re trying to block out a lot of that hate, and just concentrate on us.”
Burnham, meanwhile, said she’s actually received “a lot” of support individually from her former castmates. “A lot of the girls have actually reached out,” she said, as Luyendyk admitted that no one has “personally” offered him well wishes.
“I think maybe Tia [Booth] said some kind things, but I haven’t really been in contact with them,” he admitted.
For now, Burnham and Luyendyk (who became the first Bachelor to propose to two different women in one season), are putting their relationship first.
“I didn’t come here to set any records. I just want a happy ending,” he said, revealing that he has no regrets about how things played out. “I think this brought me here with her, and this is why I came on the show, to meet someone like her, and it’s made it all worth it.”
The Bachelor franchise returns with Kufrin’s season of The Bachelorette, premiering Monday, May 28 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on ABC.
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