Arie Luyendyk Jr. was born in the Netherlands on September 18, 1971, but now lives in Scottsdale, Arizona. He is best-known for his career in auto racing and as the son of Arie Luyendyk who has won the Indianapolis 500 twice. Although he is European, his career has predominantly taken place in America where he competed in the Indy Light Series and many other sports car series. He has now ventured into reality television. He finished as runner up in season 8 of ‘The Bachelorette’ in 2012 when he lost to Jef Holm, in winning the heart of Emily Maynard. He is now set to star in season 22 of ‘The Bachelor’.
Here are five things you may not know about Arie Luyendyk Jr.
1. He Has Appeared in a Previous Season of ‘The Bachelor’
Although he is set to star in the new season of ‘The Bachelor’, this is not the first time he has appeared on this reality show. In season 17, he visited the ‘Bachelor Pad’. This was following a conversation with his friend and fellow competitor, Sean Lowe. In episode 7 of ‘Wipeout: Summer’, the show featured a ‘Bachelors vs. Bachelorettes’ special and Arie Luyendyk Jr. appeared in this. However, he was eliminated in the early stages of the competition.
2. He Should Have Been in ‘The Bachelor’ Earlier
In season 19 of ‘The Bachelor’, it was Chris Soules who was trying to win the hearts of the female contestants. However, he wasn’t the first choice of the producers. Initially, they had wanted Arie to star in the series. However, some of the executives from the network were apprehensive as it was over two years since Arie had last been on television. Arie even believed that he was set to become ‘The Bachelor’ for season 19 and it is reported that he was upset to find out the network had chosen Chris Soules.
3. His Nickname is ‘The Kissing Bandit’
Arie has earned himself the nickname ‘The Kissing Bandit’. It is believed that this is because of the number of times he sneaked in to kiss Emily Maynard when he appeared in ‘The Bachelorette’. Emily Maynard even wrote in her blog about this in 2012 and described him as being a great kisser with a heart of gold.
4. He Once Dated Courtney Robertson
Courtney Robertson is the ex-fiancé of former Bachelor Ben Flajnik. When Robertson split with Flajnik, she dated Arie for a while. However, she has claimed that he was seeing someone else the whole time they were dating. Arie has also dated Selma Alameri who was a contestant in the season of ‘The Bachelor’ starring Sean Lowe.
5. He is the Fourth Bachelor Born Outside of the United States
Although he considers himself an American, Arie was actually born in the Netherlands and he is not the first ‘Bachelor’ to come from outside the United States. In season 5, Canadian Jesse Palmer was the star of the series while Season 9 featured Prince Lorenzo Borghese from Italy. Matt Grant from season 12 is English. Furthermore, Juan Pablo Galavis from season 17 was born in America but moved to Venezuela during his childhood and this is the country where he grew up.
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