5 Things to Know About the New Bachelor, Arie Luyendyk Jr.

By Kelsie Gibson

Updated on 12/5/2017 at 1:50 PM

ABC
ABC

The new Bachelor was revealed in September, and for many fans it just left them with even more questions. Even though there was speculation that Rachel Lindsay's runner-up Peter Kraus would be taking on the title, it ended up going to a different Bachelorette runner-up, Arie Luyendyk Jr. If you're new to Bachelor Nation or simply need a refresher — it's definitely been a while since he appeared on the franchise — here are a few things you need to know about The Bachelor's new star.

  1. He was on Emily Maynard's season. He was the runner-up during season eight of The Bachelorette.
  2. He's younger than Nick Viall. Per one of producer Mike Fleiss's clues on Twitter, Luyendyk is younger than the last Bachelor. He is 35 years old!
  3. He has been in negotiations for The Bachelor for a while now. Even though fans were shocked by the news, it seems like Luyendyk's spot as the Bachelor has been a long time coming. According to Sean Lowe, he was originally tapped for season 19 before Chris Soules took on the role.
  4. He's a race car driver. Luyendyk, who is the son of two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Arie Luyendyk, competed in the Indy Lights Series where he has finished second, third, and fourth over the years.
  5. He's taller than Chris Harrison. Another one of Fleiss's clues was that he is taller than the show's host. While Harrison is 5' 10", the 35-year-old is 6' 2".