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‘Bachelor’ star says he’ll take heat for switching ancees
By LYNN ELBER, AP Television Writer
LOS ANGELES (AP) — ABC’s “ e Bachelor” says he’s willing to take the heat for dumping Becca Kufrin to nd true love with runner-up Lauren Burnham.
“Would I do it all again and face this scrutiny to be with her? Absolutely,” Arie Luyendyk Jr. said during a teleconference with reporters.
His decision to break up with Kufrin during last week’s season nale a er he’d proposed drew headlines including the words “horror,” ‘’brutal” and “gut-wrench- ing.”
Luyendyk defended the spectacle of end- ing their engagement on network TV.
“I wanted everyone to know that the breakup was on me and that I made a mis- take,” he said, adding that the relationship started on camera and it was appropriate to end it there.
He speculated his ex might even be thankful for it.
Although she handled it graciously
for the show, Kufrin unloaded a erward about having her romantic dreams publicly crushed.
“It was like a slap in the face,” she told People magazine. But she defended Luy- endyk, sort of, saying she didn’t think he threw her over for Burnham to “malicious- ly to break my heart.”
She got a boost from billboards report- edly put up by fans in her native state: “Becca, you’ll always have a rose from Minnesota,” one digital message pro- claimed.
Kufrin, whose consolation prize is star- ring in the next season of “ e Bachelor- ette,” was to have joined in the ABC con- ference call but dropped out for scheduling reasons, the network said.
at le Burnham to defend her man, who’d proposed to her on Tuesday’s “ e
Bachelor: A er the Final Rose” a er reach- ing out to her behind the scenes while engaged to Kufrin.
Burnham called Luyendyk her “soul- mate” but admitted some hesitancy in accepting his change of heart.
“It did take some reassurance, but the fact he was willing to take that risk meant a lot to me,” she said. She’s moving from
Texas to Arizona to be with Luyendyk as they plan their wedding.
She said she “feels” for Kufrin and is eager to see her as the next “Bachelorette.”
Luyendyk said he stands by the outcome and his happiness.
“I could have done things in a di erent way, for sure. But ultimately I needed to do what was best for me.
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