‘Bachelor’ Star Arie Luyendyk Jr.’s Ex-Girlfriend Was Blindsided By ABC’s News: What Did Sydney Stempfley Say?

ABC recently announced that Arie Luyendyk Jr. would be the Bachelor 2018 lead, and this has been a fairly controversial decision among franchise fans. Many viewers were rooting for Rachel Lindsay’s Bachelorette runner-up Peter Kraus to get the gig, but instead, this third-place finisher from Emily Maynard’s season five years ago will be handing out roses this winter. Now, Arie’s ex-girlfriend is speaking out about their recent split, and what she has to say may raise a few eyebrows.

Arie Luyendyk Jr. talked about how this opportunity to become the next Bachelor lead came out of the blue and at the last minute, and it sounds as if it took his ex-girlfriend by surprise as well. Entertainment Tonight shares that his ex-girlfriend Sydney Stempfley is opening up about how blindsided she was to learn about Luyendyk’s Bachelor gig.

Stempfley, 26, explains that she dated Luyendyk for about a year after connecting via social media. She says that she believed their relationship was monogamous, and they celebrated their first anniversary in July. Sydney thought that their relationship was serious, and they spent holidays together with his family. She also traveled to several of his out-of-state races, and Sydney says her family loved Arie.

However, in late July, Stempfley was stunned when Luyendyk broke things off with her after spending a nice evening together. She says that the breakup originally happened over the phone after a small argument, and then it was solidified when she went to his place to further discuss the situation. Sydney says that she couldn’t get what felt like a definitive explanation from Arie about why he was ending the relationship, and she was stunned by how it played out.

Stempfley did contact Luyendyk as she saw his name being brought up as a Bachelor candidate. She asked if he would tell her if he was taking the gig, but ultimately, she found out when everybody else did. When asked if she thinks Arie broke up with her to take the Bachelor gig, she says she would like to believe that’s not how it happened, but all she has to go off of is his word that he didn’t.

Arie’s ex-girlfriend wishes the ladies luck as they angle for Luyendyk’s final rose this winter. She adds that she doesn’t mean to bash him and thinks he’s a great guy — other than how the split happened. Sydney actually applied to be on this next Bachelor season without knowing Arie was under consideration. What if ABC approached her now about coming onto Luyendyk’s season? Stempfley doesn’t rule it out, as she does still have questions for Arie, and she hopes that she can find closure someday.

Arie doesn’t have any recent pictures on his Instagram showing him with Sydney or anyone else romantically. The last post that is still up that hints at a relationship is one with former Bachelor winner Courtney Robertson that went up in February of 2016. As many fans know, Arie and Courtney dated for a while, and there were even rumors swirling that they had continued an on-and-off relationship until recently.

Do you think that Arie Luyendyk Jr. split with Sydney Stempfley because he knew he had the opportunity to become the Bachelor 2018 lead? Are you excited to watch Arie this winter, and do you think Luyendyk’s final rose recipient will have a chance at finding lasting happiness with him?

[Featured Image by Michael Hickey/Getty Images]