The Bachelor star Arie Luyendyk Jr. says one of the reasons he crushed Becca Kufrin's heart on-camera was to boost her chances of becoming the next The Bachelorette star.

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During a Wednesday appearance on Good Morning America, Arie explained why he chose to call off his engagement and blindside Becca for ABC cameras -- which turned out to be a highly-criticized and excruciating unedited scene during the finale -- when he could've handled the situation in private.

"I really wanted everyone to know that this was on me," Arie said. "This was my fault, and I felt like filming that would let people know that, that if there were any questions on the breakup, that those would be squashed if they saw the breakup."

Arie then added of Becca, "And I wanted her that opportunity, honestly, I wanted her that opportunity to be the potential Bachelorette."

Arie also hoped watching the finale back would answer any questions Becca might still have about their failed relationship, which lasted from the marriage proposal in November 2017 to early January 2018.

"I hope I gave her that closure," he said.

And when asked his thoughts on Becca actually being named The Bachelorette's upcoming Season 14 star, he revealed, "I'm very happy for her. I'm happy that she's going to be able to find her true love through the show... I think she can handle it and will do a great job for sure."

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 is now engaged to his The Bachelor runner-up, Lauren Burnham, who decided to take him back with open arms once he dumped Becca.

"This ending obviously wasn't perfect, and I know it's difficult for a lot of people to swallow, but I'm happy, and it took a long, hard road to get here but I'm really solid in my relationship," Arie explained on GMA.

"We've been together since January and it's going really well. And I knew this was going to be a tough week for me."

Arie is a little worried people aren't going to be supportive of his relationship with Lauren going forward, but he said everyone that really matters -- like his family and friends, as well as Lauren's loved ones -- are all onboard.

"[We] didn't get the best edit" on The Bachelor, noted Arie, "[but] I feel there was a happy ending to this story."

Arie later reiterated his comments about breaking up with Becca on-camera during an appearance on Live with Kelly and Ryan, for which Lauren was sitting by his side.

"We actually didn't watch [the finale] just for the sake of our relationship. I wanted to [film] it because, through every breakup, there's always questions of what went wrong. And I knew that if we did it on-camera, I could take ownership of it and it would completely be my fault and my doing," Arie told Kelly Ripa and Ryan Seacrest.

RELATED LINK: ARIE LUYENDYK JR. WASN'T FORCED TO DUMP BECCA KUFRIN ON-CAMERA FOR 'THE BACHELOR,' ABC INSISTS

"That was important. And the whole thing started on-camera and I wanted this story to be told all the way to the end, also running back to [Lauren], I felt that was an important story to tell."

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About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski

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