Arie Luyendyk Jr. is ready to face critics and haters once his The Bachelor finale airs on ABC next week.
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With Lauren Burnham and Becca Kufrin still in the running for his heart, the ending of Arie's season will air next Monday and Tuesday night -- and Arie admits he'll have a lot of explaining to do.
"I know people are going to be hard on [me]," Arie, 36, told People of his final decisions in the reality dating process. "I made a mistake. And I'm prepared for the backlash. But all I can say is I had to follow my heart."
The 36-year-old pro racing driver added, "[My decision] might not be the most popular, but for me it's so worth it."
The Bachelor host Chris Harrison has teased that Season 22 will have a mind-blowing and "phenomenal" finish.
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RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELOR' SPOILERS: ARIE LUYENDYK JR.'S WINNING BACHELORETTE -- PLUS WHAT'S THE SHOCKING FINALE ENDING??
"[There are] two women that he is madly in love with," Chris wrote in his Entertainment Weekly blog after the latest episode, which showed Arie enjoying his overnight Fantasy Suite dates. "As you can imagine, things are going to be wild... [The finale] will change the way you look at The Bachelor forever."
And show producer Bennett Graebner told The Hollywood Reporter last week, "I've worked on the show for 10 years. The finale will be something people haven't seen before."
In recent months, Reality Steve spoiler blogger Steve Carbone has leaked some shocking details about Arie's final Rose Ceremony and post-show relationship with the winner, but Bennett insisted Bachelor Nation is still in the dark about how Arie's season really wraps.
"Even if they are reading spoilers and think they know? They don't know," Bennett added.
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Arie told People that Becca, a 27-year-old publicist from Minneapolis, and Lauren, a 26-year-old sales representative from Virginia Beach -- who was living in Dallas prior to the show -- are "very different" but "both great in their own individual ways."
Becca is "outgoing," Arie said, while Lauren is more "reserved."
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELOR' SPOILERS TAKE ANOTHER TWIST! -- ARIE LUYENDYK JR.'S SHOCKING POST-FINALE STATUS TAKES NEW TWIST WEEK BEFORE FINALE
During Sunday night's The Bachelor: The Women Tell All special, previously-eliminated contestant Caroline Lunny called Arie out in front of the world for his behavior at the end of his season.
"This whole time, you've said that you are here because you are trying to find a wife. I know what you did, and I don't know how you could do that," Caroline said in tears. "I just really don't understand. But I really hope you found what you're looking for."
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Caroline later told People that she needed to say what she did in order to stand up for her good friend, without naming Becca or Lauren.
"When somebody burns somebody you love, you want to have that moment where you get the last word in," she said. "I don't think Arie knows what he wants. I hope he can move past the glitz of being the Bachelor and take it seriously."
To read the spoilers for the rest of Arie's The Bachelor season as well as the current status of his love life, click here.
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELOR' COUPLES NOW: WHO DID 'THE BACHELOR' STARS AND THEIR BACHELORETTE PICKS ACTUALLY END UP WITH? (PHOTOS)
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