After what felt like months of guessing, ABC finally revealed that Arie Luyendyk Jr. will star on The Bachelor [1] next season. The 35-year-old race car driver, who was the runner-up on Emily Maynard's season [2] of The Bachelorette, made the official announcement on Good Morning America on Thursday. While the news certainly came as a shock to Bachelor Nation — most fans thought Peter Kraus was a shoo-in [3] — Luyendyk told Michael Strahan he's going into this season with "an open mind, open heart." See his official announcement below!

WATCH: Arie Luyendyk Jr. discusses becoming the new Bachelor with @michaelstrahan [4].@ariejr [5] @BachelorABC [6] #TheBachelor [7] pic.twitter.com/9d6KYLZz6y [8]

— Good Morning America (@GMA) September 7, 2017 [9]