Lauren Burnham said her Bachelor days feel like “a lifetime ago.”
The former reality television show host, who is welcoming twins with Arie Luyendyk Jr., said that their shared experience feels like a different set of people as she reflected on their unconventional start to their relationship.
She revealed in a new interview that the people she and Arie were during Season 22 of the series doesn’t reflect the people they are today.
Lauren told Us Weekly, “It honestly feels like it was in a different lifetime for me. It’s so far in the past and not integrated with my normal life now that it just doesn’t even feel real to me anymore.”
The couple wed in 2019 at the Haiku Mill in Maui, Hawaii. Their nuptials were officiated by longtime Bachelor host Chris Harrison.
Lauren explained that things have certainly changed since Arie chose her over Becca Kufrin after initially proposing to Becca during the final episode of his season. Arie had a change of heart and realized he made the wrong choice. He broke up with Becca — and the entire thing was caught on film.
Lauren and Arie knew they were destined to be together
Lauren always knew she was destined to be with Arie. So much so that the couple hit the ground running after becoming engaged.
“For anyone who followed along with us, you’ll realize we started our lives outside of the show pretty quickly,” Lauren told Us Weekly. “We started planning our wedding, I think right after we got engaged on the show, and then we got pregnant with Alessi right away. So yeah, I mean, we began our life post-show very quickly.”
They were ‘stunned’ watching back his season of The Bachelor
Arie acknowledged during a prior interview with Us Weekly that The Bachelor producers somewhat influenced his journey for love. However, he said that the choices he made were his own.
“As a lead, I wouldn’t say you have 100 percent control,” he explained. “It is a TV show, so there is going to be aspects of that always to make it entertaining.”
Lauren piggybacked on Arie’s comment, saying that it was “nice to see that people are realizing that that’s not really who we are” as the couple shares their life on their YouTube channel.
“A lot of people have commented that on my YouTube videos … and sometimes even in my DMs on Instagram, they’re like, ‘Oh, I thought you were this way. And now I’m seeing your personality so much more. And I realize you’re not like that all, I’m so sorry for ever judging you before,’” she explained.
“I think Arie gets that [even] more than I do because he was clearly like, you know, the star of a show and you saw a lot more of him, but he’s just not the guy that he was really portrayed as on the show all the time,” she explained.
The Bachelor is currently on hiatus.