The Bachelor star Arie Luyendyk Jr. proposed marriage again, but this time it was to Lauren Burnham during ABC's live two-hour broadcast of After the Final Rose on Tuesday night.
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After Lauren decided to give Arie a second chance following his broken engagement to The Bachelor season's actual winner, Becca Kufrin, the 36-year-old pro racing driver made the grand gesture of proposing marriage to the woman he now considers the real love of his love.
"I'm going to pass out," Lauren said, as Arie asked her to stand with him on the stage.
"I've made some bad decisions, but the best decision was running back to you. I can't imagine a life without you. You have shown me a love that is patient and a love that is kind, and I truly believe that you are my soul mate," Arie told his girlfriend less than two months after they reconciled.
"I'm ready to face this life with you and all that comes with it, the good and the bad. I love you so much, and I want to do this in front of everyone, because I want to show you that I should've done this a long time ago."
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RELATED LINK: LAUREN BURNHAM DEFENDS ARIE LUYENDYK JR.:"I KNOW HE WON'T CHANGE HIS MIND AGAIN," WE'RE ALREADY PLANNING OUR WEDDING AND TALKING KIDS
Arie then got down on one knee and presented Lauren with a Neil Lane diamond engagement ring.
"Lauren Elizabeth Burnham, will you marry me?" he asked.
"Definitely!" Lauren replied with a huge smile on her face before kissing her fiance.
This means Arie got engaged twice in less than four months. He initially proposed to Becca during The Bachelor's Season 22 finale, which filmed in November 2017, but he realized he had made a mistake and broke up with her on-camera in mid-January.
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The After the Final Rose broadcast began with Becca grieving and mourning the loss of her relationship with Arie, saying with tears streaming down her face that she felt she had been "lied to for so long."
Becca didn't understand why Arie missed and wanted Lauren back so badly when he had previously told her that they couldn't hold a good conversation and he couldn't even explain why he loved her. She said Arie's desire for Lauren contradicted everything he had said he preferred in a future wife, and she called the turn of events "so stupid."
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But Arie seemed totally over the split, as he was traveling to Lauren's hometown of Virginia Beach, VA, to hopefully win her back.
"If I could just turn back time, I'd be with Lauren. I just hope I didn't ruin it. I broke her heart and now I really want to marry Lauren. I'm terrified. My biggest fear is I go to Lauren and it doesn't work out. I risked it all. I risked it all for her," Arie told the cameras.
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But when Lauren opened the door, she jumped into Arie's arms with a big smile on his face and embraced him tightly.
They had not seen each other since Peru, but Arie called her on New Year's Eve to allegedly "check in" with her and attempt to get closure for his lingering feelings, and that's when he realized she was "the one" for him.
"When Arie first reached out, I was a little angry honestly, because I thought he was just trying to get closure for himself. So while I'm happy to see him, before moving forward, I definitely have a lot of questions I want to ask him," Lauren said in a confessional interview.
Arie explained to Lauren that he wanted a second chance with her. She said coming home was so difficult after the show because she felt so alone and couldn't talk to anyone about their breakup.
Lauren admitted the idea of him getting engaged to someone else was "crushing her" but she just tried to focus on work and seek comfort from her family.
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Lauren asked why they didn't work out on the show, and Arie said he saw a glimmer of doubt in her eyes in Ica, Peru that made him worry about their future. He confessed that Becca was the safe choice because she was always so confident in their relationship and open about her love.
Arie said he sincerely tried to make things work with Becca once filming wrapped, but he was struggling with his feelings for her all along. While Becca was made aware of his lingering feelings for Lauren, she did not know the full extent.
RELATED LINK: ARIE LUYENDYK JR EX-GIRLFRIEND: ARIE LIED TO LAUREN BURNHAM ON 'THE BACHELOR' ABOUT MY MISCARRIAGE AND OUR BREAKUP
Lauren then asked Arie if he was over Becca, and he answered, "one thousand percent."
"I feel I made the wrong decision and I feel terrible, but my heart is with you. It's always been with you," Arie told the blonde beauty.
Lauren decided to forgive Arie, and the pair hugged and kissed.
"I love you and I want you back," Arie noted.
"Well, you've got me!" Lauren gushed, before telling the Bachelor that she hoped an engagement wouldn't take much longer.
After the Final Rose host Chris Harrison then welcomed some of Arie's former bachelorettes from the show onstage: Caroline Lunny, Kendall Long, Tia Booth, Bekah Martinez, and Seinne Fleming.
Bekah called Arie "an incredibly manipulative person" and pointed out that he would say or do anything to get what he wants.
Caroline added that Arie seemed to have "zero empathy" for Becca when he broke her heart, and if he could so easily disregard their relationship, he never should have proposed to her.
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Tia then revealed she was actually with Lauren the New Year's Eve night when Arie reached out to her, as they were ringing in the year 2018 together. And the ladies agreed Arie never would've dumped Becca and traveled to see Lauren if she had not already given him hope of a reconciliation over the phone. They called it "insurance."
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELOR'S BECCA KUFRIN: I WOULDN'T WISH WHAT ARIE LUYENDYK JR. DID TO ME ON MY WORST ENEMY, IT WAS A SLAP IN THE FACE
"I hope Lauren gets out of that [relationship] as soon as possible," Bekah admitted.
"I hope he sees how heartbroken Becca is and never does something like this again," Seinne noted.
All of the women also discussed how Lauren was going to receive a lot of hate and negativity going forward but she didn't deserve it. Bekah explained that Lauren was unable to see was transpired between Arie and Becca before she took him back -- that she was just a girl in love with a man with whom she shared amazing times on The Bachelor.
Chris then welcomed Becca on the stage, and Becca suggested she was fine with ABC airing her breakup because it "was just another part of my story," as she had signed up to broadcast her love life on national television. She also said that watching Arie dump her gave her more "closure."
Becca said she was blindsided because she was talking about her future plans with Arie, and they had even looked at houses together. She thought that when Arie called Lauren on the phone, he was just looking to relieve some guilt and close that door.
However, Becca was doing okay, as she would never want a man to feel trapped in a relationship with her. She's much better than that.
When Arie joined Becca and Chris onstage, they both seemed extremely nervous to be around each other.
RELATED LINK: ARIE LUYENDYK JR. WASN'T FORCED TO DUMP BECCA KUFRIN ON-CAMERA FOR 'THE BACHELOR,' ABC INSISTS
Arie discussed how he waited to tell Becca about the extent of his love for Lauren because he needed to sort out his feelings and wanted to be 100 percent certain he'd be making the right decision by breaking up with her.
"This was on me and it wasn't on you," Arie assured Becca.
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Becca felt disrespected by Arie and would have appreciated more honesty from him, but she told Chris that she was looking forward to finding a man "better suited" for her and she "wanted to move forward."
Arie confessed to the world that he never should have proposed to Becca in the first place -- and although it's no excuse -- he felt pressure from The Bachelor process and pressure from fans watching at home to pop the question at the end of his journey, even though he wasn't truly ready for such a commitment.
"I don't think anything went wrong, but it was just that I was one foot in... I never should have proposed. I was conflicted and needed more time, but I didn't have any more time. I should've seen where [our relationship] went after this and taken more time for us to be in a relationship and sort all of that out. And I apologize for that," Arie told Becca.
"When we got engaged, I gave it as much effort as I could, but my heart was conflicted and it was hard to express that to you at the time."
Becca told Arie she forgave him and asked him to hold Lauren's heart high because she deserves happiness and to be treated well and fairly by him. Becca told Arie to be true and loyal to his new girlfriend.
Lauren then replaced Becca in the hot seat, and she and Arie both revealed that they were together when the finale aired on Monday night but they did not watch it. The couple didn't want to relive old, painful memories.
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"It's difficult to read stuff on social media," Arie noted of the criticism and hate he's received since dumping Becca.
But the circumstances have only apparently made Arie and Lauren's romance stronger.
"I've never been more in love with him. We are very, very happy together," Lauren insisted, adding that she loves Arie's honesty and bravery.
"I think he did an amazing job of handling this whole thing and he couldn't have gone about it in a more respectful way. I'm really proud of him."
Lauren also promised Chris that she trusted Arie with her heart and felt like their love was real and genuine.
"No love story is perfect, but I took that risk because it was worth it. She was on my mind day and night," Arie shared.
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As for what's next for the couple, Arie and Lauren will be going on a vacation soon out of the country, and then Lauren will be moving to Scottsdale, AZ, to be with him. Lauren also said she's simply not going to look at social media so the negativity and backlash won't affect her.
Arie said everyone was going to judge their relationship but none of it matters because they love each other and are happy. Arie said that when he's not with Lauren, he talks to her on the phone for about three hours every day.
And that's when Arie got down on one knee and promised Lauren a future together.
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