Entertainment

Here’s The Social Media Proof That Lauren & Arie Are Totally Dating After ’The Bachelor'

by Marenah Dobin
ABC/Paul Hebert

Warning: Bachelor spoilers ahead. Almost every Bachelor fan is aware of the dramatic finale that is airing Monday and Tuesday night. A major spoiler has made its way around the internet, but what happened between the end of filming and today? All will be answered on After the Final Rose, but based on what we know now, there are already signs that Lauren and Arie are still together.

Let's back things up a little bit and address the controversial elephant in the room: the post-finale Bachelor spoiler. On January 23, well-known Bachelor spoiler site Reality Steve reported that Arie broke off an engagement with Becca Kufrin to pursue a relationship with second place finisher Lauren. As per usual, there are some Bachelor fanatics who are skeptical of spoilers, but the news has also now been reported by mainstream media outlets.

The story went beyond the Reality Steve readers on February 28, when Us Weekly reported that Arie proposes in Peru for during the finale episode, then changes his mind and dumps the "winner" on camera to date the runner-up.

There are no names in the Us Weekly article to specify the "winner" and the woman who is ultimately chosen by Arie, but there is even more proof of the widely reported ending.

Hulu accidentally uploaded a video to promote tourism in Peru using footage from the finale. This included footage of Arie proposing to Becca. The video was quickly deleted, but someone was able to capture it for YouTube and it will live on screen shots.

This Hulu mishap proves that Becca was the initial person chosen by Arie. By default, this indicates Lauren is the one who Arie tried to pursue a relationship with after his failed reality TV engagement, but are they actually still together?

Dating is hard enough. Dating on reality TV has to be even more difficult. And dating your runner-up after a broken reality TV competition for love has to be incredibly tough to navigate. So, it is very possible that Arie's second shot at love this season fizzled out, as well. But, based on social media, it seems like it's all good with Lauren and Arie.

Not only that, but the timeline of what Lauren has been posting on social media lines up with the information reported by Reality Steve. According to Reality Steve, Arie reached out to Lauren via phone call on the night of the premiere episode, broke up with Becca soon after during the second weekend in January, and went to Lauren's home in Virginia Beach to attempt to win her back on January 16.

Up until January 16, Lauren didn't post too much about the show and she didn't post any photos alone with Arie. Instead, her captions focused her experience as one of 29 women's "quests to find love on The Bachelor" and being one of the four Laurens in the cast.

After Arie asked Lauren for a second chance, it was a whole different story. She started to post photos alone with Arie and the captions strongly hinted at a current relationship. On January 29, she started posting photos from the show with sweet couple-like captions.

Lauren shared a photo of herself and Arie alone on the the bowling group date. She captioned it with "He’s a perfect 10...*sigh* Spare me." Sure, that's a cute bowling joke, but why would she refer to someone else's boyfriend as a "perfect 10"? Because Arie is her boyfriend, that's why.

On February 5, Lauren shared a photo from her first 1-on-1 date with Arie with the caption "WOW," of course. That's not a smoking gun since lots of women share behind-the-scenes photos from their dates on social media, but there is plenty of other social media evidence.

On February 19, Lauren posted a photo from her hometown date of a make-out session with Arie underneath a pier. Along with the photo, Lauren wrote, "I’m not HORSING around...I SEA something happening here. It apPIERS to me that this BEACH likes you." Confirmation bias aside, it really does sound like Lauren was strongly hinting at a current relationship with Arie. What else could she "SEA happening here"?

The fun with puns continued when Lauren shared a photo from her overnight date in Lima, Peru. She captioned that one with "Thanks for letting me Lima on you! Can't believe we tuk-tuk our love to Peru. #queenofpuns." Come on. She said "we tuk-tuk our love to Peru." No one would caption a photo with that if she was dumped twice by the same guy. All signs indicate that round two is going well. They just have to be together.

As if Lauren's social media hints weren't enough of a relationship confirmation, Arie basically said that Lauren is his favorite in a tweet on his own account. In a since-deleted tweet, a fan shared a photo of vanilla ice cream tubs with the caption "Lauren's family portrait." Arie quoted the tweet and added "My favorite flavor."

Game over. They're still together. They just have to be. Why would Arie bother defending Lauren if that wasn't the case?

Even with the plethora of spoilers and reports via "inside sources," some fans might just not accept anything until the After the Final Rose episode airs. There's nothing wrong with that, but come on, there are several strong clues on Lauren and Arie's social media posts that seem to be put everything right in front of our faces.