'Bachelor' star says he'll take heat for switching fiancees
LOS ANGELES (AP) — ABC's "The Bachelor" says he's willing to take the heat for dumping Becca Kufrin to find true love with runner-up Lauren Burnham.
"Would I do it all again and face this scrutiny to be with her? Absolutely," Arie Luyendyk Jr. said Wednesday during a teleconference with reporters.
His decision to break up with Kufrin during Monday's season finale after he'd proposed drew headlines including the words "horror," ''brutal" and "gut-wrenching."
Luyendyk defended the spectacle of ending their engagement on network TV.
"I wanted everyone to know that the breakup was on me and that I made a mistake," he said, adding that the relationship started on camera and it was appropriate to end it there.