Arie Luyendyk Jr. can definitely relate to Luke Pell's last-minute The Bachelor letdown because he, too, was once supposed to star on the franchise but had the rug pulled out from under him.
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Luyendyk, a fellow The Bachelorette alum, was also blindsided by producers several years ago and commented on a tweet about the sudden Pell and Viall switch-up.
"Same exact situation I had, it's so not cool," the race car driver wrote on Twitter, which Pell later retweeted to show his appreciation.
Luyendyk, the runner-up from Emily Maynard's season of The Bachelorette, was in talks to star on Season 19 of The Bachelor, however, Chris Soules unexpectedly landed the gig after getting his heart broken by Andi Dorfman and winning America's heart as the down-to-earth Iowa farmer.
"I mean, [my situation was] almost word for word on that [Luke] article," Luyendyk, 34, told Us Weekly.
"Same exact deal. I just knew two days prior, but same deal: suit fittings; contracts that I signed, but they were delayed on signings on their end; booked flights."
Luyendyk questioned whether The Bachelor producers make sudden casting changes to conserve the element of surprise. After all, fans -- and even the production crew, according to Pell -- fully expected Pell to be the next Bachelor for weeks.
"Maybe this is a common practice now to throw off fans -- I don't know," Luyendyk told Us.
Luyendyk certainly doesn't mind that Viall, a 35-year-old software salesman, was picked as The Bachelor star, but he feels for Pell.
"I like the decision to go with Nick, but they did Luke dirty for sure," the race car driver noted.
The Bachelor will premiere in January 2017, and according to creator Mike Fleiss, more official announcements regarding the new season are coming soon.
About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski
