Becca Kufrin may have lost The Bachelor star Arie Luyendyk Jr. to Lauren Burnham, but she apparently has no hard feelings toward the bachelorette.
ADVERTISEMENT
Despite being heartbroken and blindsided by Arie's unfailing love for Lauren, Becca told People, "[I have no] ill will towards [Lauren]."
At the final Rose Ceremony in Peru, filmed in November 2017, Arie rejected and devastated Lauren, who finished the season as his runner-up.
Arie then turned around and proposed marriage to Becca, a Minnesota-based publicist; however, Arie came to realize over the next six to eight weeks that his head chose Becca and his heart always belonged to Lauren.
Arie therefore chose to call off his engagement to Becca on-camera in January in the hope of reconciling with Lauren, and the excruciating unedited scene played out on Monday night's The Bachelor finale.
ADVERTISEMENT
"At the end of the day, we both just fell in love with the same guy and she can't help that. The only person that I can fault in this is Arie and the way he handled it," Becca shared.
"I do feel a little bad that it's going to be really tough for them when all of this is said and done. Social media is a hard world to navigate through, and there's going to be a lot of negativity and I don't think she deserves that."
And the backlash has certainly been fierce already. Fans of the series and even members of Bachelor Nation have lashed out at Arie for his selfish behavior, and ABC producers have also taken a lot of heat for filming and airing Becca's cringeworthy heartbreak.
Arie and Becca's split was uncomfortable for most viewers to watch on TV, as Becca repeatedly sobbed into her hands and tried to catch what little breath she had left.
"If they want to make it work, then they will, and I hope they're strong enough to get through it all," Becca told People.
ADVERTISEMENT
Becca was forced to relive her betrayal all over again on Monday night, and she admitted she's ready for "this chapter of Arie to be done." She wants to "close" this story up, "put it on the shelf and put it away."
"At the end of the day, I wouldn't change the experience because I met so many amazing people and I fell in love and I had this great experience and memories," Becca explained.
"I'm still going to feel a sense of compassion for him because I did love him but at this point, I want him to be happy, I want to be done and not have to worry about them anymore. They're going to be together and do their thing."
Maybe The Bachelorette will be in store for Becca now that she's single? ABC is going to officially announce the upcoming Season 14 star of The Bachelorette on Tuesday night's After the Final Rose, which will air from 8-10PM ET/PT.
"I wanted to move on and have my person that I can focus on and live my life with," Becca shared.
ADVERTISEMENT
"At the end of the day, I do forgive him... [I] can't fault him for falling in love with Lauren and following his heart because I would never want anyone to stay in a relationship where they felt trapped and it wasn't right."