Nothing like finally opening up about your feelings for a person only to have them get up and walk away without any explanation, right? That's exactly what happened during Monday's episode of The Bachelor [1] when Lauren B. — after struggling to be vulnerable about her feelings — tells Arie how she feels about him. Arie's response? He promptly stands up, walks outside, and paces around a bit. Wait, what? Was he nervous? Overcome with emotion? Or, as some fans wondered, letting out a fart? In any case, poor Lauren is left at the table to wipe away tears and wonder what the hell is happening.
As viewers, the next thing we saw was Arie sitting back down at the table, not really offering any reason for his exit, and then . . . dropping the L bomb?!
"I feel vulnerable with you, and to hear you say that you're falling for me makes me really, really happy," he says. "I really do see something between us. I'm falling so deeply in love with you. It's crazy."
Curveball! People have tossed out all sorts of theories about Arie's exit, but personally, I'm in the camp that thinks he probably stepped aside to talk to the producers about whether or not he should tell Lauren that the feelings were mutual. As Bachelor fans know, the "L" word is typically avoided by the show's lead until the final episode. Even though producers have said there are "no rules" [2] about that, the Bachelor usually waits to say "I love you" until he's standing with his final pick during the proposal.
Case in point: former Bachelor Ben Higgins got a whole lot of heat after he told both of his final two women that he was in love with them. At the time, host Chris Harrison [4] said that as producers, that was just a sign that they did their job well [5]. "We facilitated these relationships and we allowed that to happen, and that's our goal," he said, explaining that if Ben had come to him for advice, he'd probably have discouraged it only because it might create problems for him down the road. Meanwhile, Arie's tossing all those unofficial "rules" and norms aside, opening up about his feelings to help Lauren feel reassured before they even get to the hometown dates.
We can't be sure of Arie's reasoning, of course, so while we're all left guessing, let's just enjoy all these hilarious reactions and theories, shall we?
Bruh, Arie is so weird man. She tells him she's falling in love with him and he has to get up and walk away just to say he feels the same 🙄
— Christian (@Sommerfeldt13) February 13, 2018 [7]
Why did Arie walk away from Lauren B on their date? He had to fart, this is a fact. #TheBachelor [8]
— Mayo Boi (@IanWhyte815) February 13, 2018 [9]
I feel like the producers were like "yeah Arie we're going to need you to walk away for dramatic effect." #thebachelor [10]
— nina costa (@mrsninacosta) February 13, 2018 [11]
Arie is confusing the heck out of me. Why does he need to walk away when she is being so vulnerable with her feelings!! Ah my head spins #TheBachelor [12]
— Elizabeth Doyle (@life_asLIZ) February 13, 2018 [13]
Arie wants Lauren B to open up. She opens up. AND HE HAS THE NERVE TO WALK AWAY? Excuse me, buddy, that's not healthy communication!!! #TheBachelor [14]
— Emily Blevins (@emilykblevins) February 13, 2018 [15]
Why did Arie walk away from Lauren during their date #TheBachelor [16]
— Ariel Mattar (@arielmattar) February 13, 2018 [17]
So Arie definitely left the room after Lauren B. told him she was falling in love with him to ask the producers what he was and wasn't allowed to respond to her with, right? #TheBachelor [18]
— ewα καszubα (@kashoobs) February 13, 2018 [19]
I'm gonna talk about this on #GrapeTherapy [20] because I think I have an idea what happened https://t.co/J3Hm0K4yxL [21]
— Kaitlyn Bristowe (@kaitlynbristowe) February 13, 2018 [22]