Arie Luyendyk, Jr. The Bachelorette

Four guys. One girl. Four families. One broken heart.

Things got serious, emotional, cheesy and awkward as always on The Bachelorette as Emily Maynard went to her prospective husbands' places of origin.

Arie, Chris, Jef and Sean each received a hero's welcome and acquitted themselves well on make-or-break hometown dates, but only three roses were in play.

Who got the boot, and who's on to the final three? Follow this link for all The Bachelorette spoilers we know, then read on for THG's official +/- recap!

Over-under on the number of times the phrase "hometown date" is spoken tonight? 17. And we're betting the over. Minus 17 because it'll be close.

Ricki sighting! Plus 20. She turns seven TODAY, so Plus 7 more.

Minus 10 for killing time and recapping all the guys. Snooze.

Chris Bukowski is up first. Are they getting him out of the way? Guy has to be the clear underdog among the top four. Sorry Chris, it's just true man.

"On a scale of one to Polish, we're Polish." - Proudly Polish Chris. Plus 5.

Mmm ... beer. Emily Maynard drinks a lot of it for a girly girl. Plus 4.

She always looks very, very tan ... in Chicago, in early spring, that makes one of them. Minus 3 for maybe trying just a little too hard sometimes.

Plus 6, though for the hair. It's so pretty.

Chris says his folks are pumped to meet their future daughter-in-law. On the same day Emily comes by? Wow, that's gonna be awkward! Minus 10.

Continue Reading...

The rumor mill us swirling as to who Emily Maynard chooses on The Bachelorette. Spoilers to this point have been accurate ... but what about going forward?

The field of 25 has been narrowed to four, as tonight's hometown dates feature Jef Holm, 27, Sean Lowe, 28, Chris Bukowski, 25, and Arie Luyendyk Jr., 30.

The favorite at this point? Still anyone's guess. Or is it?

There have been reports that Jef, despite looking like the Chris Lambton of this season - great friends with Emily but low romantic chemistry - is the winner.

There have also been conflicting reports that Emily Maynard is engaged to Arie Luyendyk, Jr. after he mentioned his fiancee on a recent call with reporters.

Sean Lowe? How could that guy not be a favorite?

Emily has even been linked (erroneously) to host Chris Harrison and Brad Womack by tabloids in recent weeks in this most unusual Bachelorette season.

For the first time in show history, Sean, Arie and Jef have all done interviews during the season, fueling speculation that each may be the final rose recipient.

What's more, the final three who go on to Curacao after tonight all left the island nation at the same time, making it unclear who finished second (or third).

What do we know about tonight, and beyond? Is there a surprise in store regarding the season finale? Follow the jump for The Bachelorette spoilers ...

Continue Reading...

Six roses. Four dudes. Things are getting serious on The Bachelorette.

After the past two weeks saw villains Ryan Bowers and Kalon McMahon dispatched by Emily Maynard, were there any more fireworks in store this evening?

Who succeeded in wooing our beloved single mom from North Carolina, and who failed to make the final cut before next week's coveted hometown dates?

Follow this link for a rundown of The Bachelorette spoilers we know thus far, including the (alleged) final three. Then read on for THG's official +/- recap!

First, Prague is on my bucket list now. Beautiful city. Plus 4.

Our Southern Belle Emily Maynard walks the streets of Prague, sans daughter Ricki, musing about the hometown dates. Hostman Chris Harrison tells the guys this week is important because next week are hometown dates. Jef with one F tells us he's really hoping he gets a hometown date next week. We get it. Hometown dates are important. Minus 3.

Of the six guys, three of them will get a one-on-one date with Emily this week. The first date goes to Arie Luyendyk Jr., probably because Emily wants to kiss him (loudly) a few more times. His jacket has elbow patches. Minus 3.

Emily thinks it's shady that Arie hasn't told her about his relationship with Cassie the producer. His failure to disclose his past relationship with someone in Emily's inner circle is disloyal somehow to her.

Chris decides to set the record straight about the rumors regarding Arie and Cassie and introduces a segment of Cassie interviewing Emily about Arie.

Cassie says it's no big deal, it was a long time ago, blah blah blah. Emily says the fact that they dated is no big deal. It's the fact that nobody told her that they knew each other that's the problem.

Continue Reading...

Arie Luyendyk Jr. is The Bachelorette's most talked-about guy this season.

The Scottsdale, Ariz., race car driver with the sexy, yet approachable demeanor, sense of humor and emotional openness has been a frontrunner from the start.

It's no surprise that he's rumored to be among Emily Maynard's final three, but did he accidentally reveal who wins this season - himself - on a conference call?

Asked about whether he'd be interested in being The Bachelor if it doesn't work out with Emily, he said, "Well, you know my fiancée might not approve of that."

He then backtracked: "No, I’m joking. I mean, I... No, you know, basically it’s hilarious because I know that’s a hot topic right now but who knows what happens."

"If I am engaged to Emily," he clarified, "then I don’t think it would be possible for me to become the next Bachelor." Well, yeah. But did he just let it out of the bag?

He may well, have but he also offered praise for his competitors, as well.

"There’s a lot of really good guys," Arie said. "It's not that anyone’s better than the next guy. It’s the relationship. I don’t have that feeling to where you know Chris, Sean, Jef couldn’t make for a good father or a good husband."

"The guys that are there now are all very good individuals."

So, basically, Chris Bukowski, Sean Lowe and Jef Holm are sitting pretty along with Arie Luyendyk, Jr. It looks like a scandal is on the horizon for Arie, however.

His shady past, specifically his relationship with Cassie Lambert, a producer on the show, comes to light on next week's episode, and Emily is not happy.

What do you think? Who should Emily pick?

The Arie Luyendyk scandal involving his past relationship with The Bachelorette producer Cassie Lambert was real, Chris Harrison says, but also isn't THAT big a thing.

Chris, the show's venerable host slash pimp, admits that Arie will become a lightning rod for conflict on next week's episode and that Lambert is the reason why.

At the same time, Harrison promises a full explanation about the whole situation when it comes up in the episode. The entire week, he says, was "very intense."

"Emily does find out about the relationship Arie had with our producer and we deal with that. It’s very straightforward, we show clips and raw footage," he adds.

"We just show viewers what we have and the conversation that took place. It was just a decision of whether we sweep it under the rug and act like it didn’t happen?"

"We want to show people that yes there was something there, but it wasn’t the biggest calamity in the history of the show,” Harrison told TV Guide this week.

Indeed, if you've read The Bachelorette spoilers this season, you know it's very unlikely that this is the end of Arie's run on the show. We'll leave it at that.

Of the celebrity gossip stories going around, Chris says "next week we will deal with this ... you will get the complete story, and more importantly, the truth!"

Here's ABC's promo of the episode, which teases the confrontation:

The Bachelorette Season 8, Episode 7 Promo

Our prediction is that as upset as she may be initially, Emily will be angry that they did not disclose the relationship sooner ... and that's pretty much it.

The two dated years ago, and not for a very long time; it's obvious he's into Emily at this point, and maybe Cassie simply wanted her to form her own opinion.

In any case, tell us how you think it'll go down on Monday!

Arie Luyendyk, Jr.'s much-discussed relationship with a producer on The Bachelorette will apparently be discussed on next week's episode of the hit show.

This has been well-documented throughout the season, but until now, it was unclear if Emily knew at all, let alone found out in the middle of the season.

Numerous reports about Arie Luyendyk, Jr. and Cassie Lambert have circulated, though his friends have defended him and downplayed the relationship.

What really happened and how will Emily Maynard react?

The Bachelorette Season 8, Episode 7 Promo

The surprising preview for next week (above) certainly makes it look like she's not happy, though the producers may be more to blame than Arie here.

According to Reality Steve, when Emily found out, she realized the show's brain trust knew about Cassie and Arie the whole time and kept it from her.

"Arie was told to never bring up the Cassie relationship to Emily and that it was already taken care of," according to Steve, "yet, it wasn’t taken care of."

However Emily does find out about Arie and Cassie having a relationship, it remains to be seen whether it will torpedo the race car driver's chances.

The Bachelorette spoilers we've posted throughout the season offer some hints in that regard. What do you think? Should she kick him off the show?

If she does, she'll be parting ways with one of the favorites. Check out this clip of Arie and Emily on last night's episode, getting cozy in Croatia ...

Continue Reading...

A friend of Arie Luyendyk, Jr., is speaking out to defend the reality star against allegations that he is on The Bachelorette for the wrong reasons.

The dashing Indy Car driver has been wooing Emily Maynard with his looks, sense of humor, openness and good-natured demeanor ... but is it all a farce?

Recent reports have suggested he may not be as sincere as he seems, and have cited his relationship with Cassie Lambert, one of the producers.

Well, his friend Kristina Owen tells Wetpaint that Arie is there for the right reasons, and did not get the boot from Emily as Us Weekly claimed.

The Bachelorette spoilers have Arie as one of the top contenders, but Us claimed Emily “cut [Arie] on the spot” when she found out about Cassie.

Not the case, says Kristina.

"People assume it was this really intense, long-term relationship – but that’s not the case," she says, adding that it's "blown way out of proportion."

Owen says that while Arie Luyendyk, Jr., does know Lambert, she's merely an old acquaintance, and hasn't been "begging him" to be on the show.

Continue Reading...

Arie Luyendyk, Jr., is doing a great job wooing Emily Maynard on The Bachelorette so far this season, but a series of strange details about his past have cast serious doubt about both his character and motives.

Are we looking at Mr. Here For the Wrong Reasons?

While none of the revelations are that scandalous, Arie's level of success this season (see The Bachelorette spoilers for more on that topic) makes them quite consequential as a serious candidate to become Emily's fiancé and Ricki’s future stepfather.

According to reports, Bachelorette producer Cassie Lambert not only knows Arie - a race car driver and son of Indycar champion Arie Luyendyk, Sr. - she's been trying to get him on the show for years, but he kept turning it down.

That is, until this year, when and that he agreed to do it because Cassie would help him get to the end. According to Bachelorette spoiler guru Reality Steve, Arie even said, “I’m only doing it because I know I’m gonna win.”

He was extremely confident going into the show that Cassie would help him get far, because she's coached him and is the one Emily talks to daily.

How much this influenced Emily, we'll likely never know, but his relationship with Cassie Lambert played a major role in him agreeing to the show.

Amazingly, it only gets weirder from there.

Continue Reading...