While anything that occurs while you're on The Bachelor is fair game for filming, the series went one step further and documented a major thing that occurred after the show had wrapped. The Bachelor filmed Arie's breakup with Becca and it seems particularly cruel. Sure, breakups are essential to The Bachelor with its rose ceremonies and two-on-one dates. But Becca didn't expect her fiancé to dump her — and she definitely didn't expect that this emotional blow would be televised for all Bachelor viewers to see. And fans were not happy with ABC's move. Bustle reached out to ABC for comment on filming the breakup and they declined.
The creator of The Bachelor, Mike Fleiss, tweeted before the finale that there would be an unedited scene. And it turns out to be none other than Arie's breakup with Becca. This isn't the first time that a breakup after the show was filmed since Jason Mesnick broke up with Melissa Rycroft in front of cameras back in Season 13 after he had proposed to her. Yet, the unedited scene was a first for the franchise and it felt particularly invasive. Plus, it was a major blow since Becca seemed simply excited to see her fiancé before he showed up and dropped the bomb on her. And while no one wants Becca in a one-sided relationship, that didn't make watching the breakup any easier.
When Jason broke up with Melissa, it was for an After The Final Rose special. At the time, Chris Harrison wrote for Entertainment Weekly, "Believe me when I tell you that was the hardest, most uncomfortable show I've ever hosted." And while he wasn't present for Arie's breakup with Becca, the filming of this intimate moment may have trumped Jason and Melissa's breakup when it comes to the uncomfortable department.
If you're angry with Arie, like many people on Twitter are, the comments he made about the finale before it aired probably won't help. "The finale is going to be very interesting for fans to watch and my journey to get there, but I am very happy and it's been an experience that I will remember forever," Arie told Us Weekly. "I really have no regrets doing it. All I can really say is that I'm very happy and it's going to be fun for me to watch that back."
After seeing Becca's raw emotions during the breakup, Arie's words that the finale is "going to be fun" to watch back seem pretty messed up. But he appears to be content with his controversial decision. "I think there's criticism every season and I think that I handled that well," Arie told Us Weekly. "At the end of the day, it's all about finding that person for myself and being happy after all this. I really feel like I will be."
Yet, just because Arie is OK with his decision, doesn't mean Bachelor Nation is. Besides getting her heart broken, Becca acknowledged how embarrassing the situation is. "Well, I hope you find what you want. It's clearly not me," she said to Arie. And then the cameras continued to follow her as she cried in the bathroom and Arie refused to leave the house. It just made the entire situation worse and Twitter was not having it.
But no viewers would have seen this moment if it wasn't for the film crew being there — and that's the major problem people had with this dramatic Bachelor moment.
"I know talking to you in person and in this way feels cruel, but I just I want you to be able to move forward and I want you to know how I'm feeling," Arie said. Yet, he seemed to be missing the point. While he absolutely should have broken up with her in person, it was the on camera part that was cruel. And instead of owning up to the fact that he was breaking her heart, he continued to frame his decision to end things this way like it was in Becca's best interest.
So Arie did as he said he would and he followed his heart — just in the most hurtful way possible. And due to The Bachelor filming the breakup, the whole fandom experienced Becca's raw pain, which only made viewers love her more and dislike Arie all the more.
