The Bachelor host Chris Harrison admits Arie Luyendyk Jr. isn't the most popular star to have come out of the franchise in recent years but the pro racing driver is somewhat at fault for his reputation.
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"He got a lot of heat -- and I have told him this, so I'm not talking out of school -- he brings a lot of it on himself," Chris told People.
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Arie got engaged to Becca Kufrin at the conclusion of his The Bachelor season earlier this year, only to dump her during what was supposed to be a happy-couple getaway weeks later.
Not only did Arie break up with Becca on-camera, but he begged his runner-up, Lauren Burnham, for a second chance.
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After Lauren took Arie back, the couple resumed their relationship and got engaged on The Bachelor: After the Final Rose in March. The couple is now planning a January 2019 wedding in Hawaii, and Chris plans to attend.
"I tell him all the time, 'You are your own worst enemy,'" Chris admitted.
Chris then went on to reveal a couple examples of how Arie's behavior has sparked backlash from Bachelor Nation and critics everywhere.
"Like the whole pregnancy on Instagram," Chris recalled of Arie and Lauren's shocking April Fool's Day joke in which Lauren posted a photo of a baby bump on Instagram, "for all future Bachelor couples, don't put the fake pregnancy thing out [there]. It never works! It's always a bad joke. They did it."
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And when Arie and Lauren's engagement became public knowledge, the pair announced they'd be taking a break from social media and wouldn't be reading people's comments on Twitter and Instagram.
"When they first got back together, it was like, 'We're disappearing; we're going away.' Next thing, you see pictures of them in Iceland and pictures of her from behind at the Blue Lagoon," Chris reasoned with People. "And you're like, 'Stop! Unless you're doing it on purpose, just stop.'"
Lauren just celebrated her bridal shower in late August.
Back in February before The Bachelor's Season 22 finale aired on ABC, Arie confessed to the magazine he'd have a lot of explaining to do.
"I know people are going to be hard on [me]," Arie, 36, said at the time in regards to his final decisions in the reality dating process.
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"I made a mistake. And I'm prepared for the backlash. But all I can say is I had to follow my heart... [My decision] might not be the most popular, but for me it's so worth it."
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About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski