Arie Luyendyk Jr. Will Not Try to Save His Reputation on Dancing With the Stars
It’s been exactly a week since The Bachelor’s gut-wrenching finale flip-flop, and it’s pretty safe to say Bachelor Nation is still not over it.
Billboards have been put up in protest. SNL has turned the drama into a sketch. And as one quick scroll through Twitter proves, fans aren’t going to let Arie Luyendyk Jr. and his indecisive ways off the hook anytime soon.
While we can all agree that Luyendyk Jr. has made too many mistakes to count over the last seven days, there’s still one post-Bachelor pitfall that he’s wisely decided to sidestep: an appearance on Dancing with the Stars.
“I won’t do Dancing with the Stars because I’m trying to avoid the mistakes that have been made in the past,” Luyendyk Jr. told InStyle earlier this season, referencing the fact that time spent on the show would take away from the time spent with his fiancé, Lauren Burnham. “I think, at the end of the day, you have to do what’s healthy for your relationship first.”
Despite the controversy surrounding his season, the racecar driver’s presence still seemed possible on DWTS, given that the upcoming season (premiering April 30 on ABC) is an all-athletes cycle. Plus, the show has never shied away from bringing on a controversial contestant (ahem, Paula Deen).
On top of that, three out of the last five Bachelors (Nick Viall, Chris Soules, and Sean Lowe) have laced up their dancing shoes within weeks of the Bachelor finale.
VIDEO: The Bachelor's Arie Luyendyk Jr. Gets Engaged To Lauren Burnham
So is skipping DWTS Luyendyk Jr.’s first step in the right direction since the finale? Perhaps. Or maybe it’s just a sign that he’s ready to get out of the Hollywood bubble—this time for good.
“I’ve already lived in L.A. and spent a lot of time in front of cameras,” he said. “When you’re on The Bachelor and The Bachelorette, they make it feel like there are no cameras around, but Dancing with the Stars would be completely different. It wouldn’t be comfortable for me.”
