TEARS, TANTRUMS & TAKEDOWNS
The contestants who were sent home by Bachelor star Arie Luyendyk Jr. turn against him — and one another!
Krystal Nielson was the first one in the hot seat. As taping got underway for The Bachelor’s The Women Tell All special in LA on Feb. 13, the babyvoiced 30-year-old fitness coach — who was widely viewed as this season’s villain — was “acting very nice and friendly to the other girls,” a source tells In Touch, “but then things started with a bang!”
Name-calling, body-shaming and anger-fueled attacks quickly whipped the 18 contestants onstage into a frenzy. And that was before Bachelor Arie Luyendyk Jr. had even shown up! “The taping was crazy,” says the source, explaining that it took six hours to film the episode, which airs on Feb. 25. “Arie got off fairly easy — it didn’t seem like anyone was still in love with him. The women spent most of the time attacking each other!”
DRAMATIC FACE-OFFS
Krystal was the main target. The girls berated her. “They all had something to say,” reveals the source, adding that the women discussed how arrogant Krystal was. (Caroline Lunny, 27, in particular “tore her a new one,” adds the source.) “Then the producers aired never-beforeseen footage of Krystal calling the other women the C-word and saying Arie has a ‘needle d---.’ All the girls’ jaws dropped, and the whole audience booed her. It was really shocking.” When contestant Bibiana Juliana, 30, asked Krystal how she knew that about Arie’s anatomy, “Krystal didn’t respond.” She did apologize for her behavior, says the source, “but it took a while.”
Even Arie, 36, was dismissive of her. Though he didn’t directly address Krystal’s below-thebelt diss, “he did say something like, ‘I sent you home at the right time,’” says the source, who adds that Arie at one point was heard mumbling about how he “has the worst nicknames, like ‘pillow lips’ and ‘needle d---.’” After more exes talked to Arie to get closure, finally it was Caroline’s turn. The real estate agent, who’s very close to final-three front-runner Becca Kufrin, 27, cryptically “told Arie, ‘I know what you did,’ and said something along the lines of, ‘I can’t believe you did that.’” Arie stared her down and “it became awkward for everyone,” adds the source. “After she ripped Arie,
”Bekah harped on how it shouldn’t matter how old she is,” a source says of the now-23year-old.
she started crying and got really nervous — her voice was shaking. She was the most emotional of everyone.”
ARIE’S RESPONSE
But the catty behavior continued. Bekah Martinez, who was memorably dumped by Arie not long after he learned she was only 22, accused Tia Booth, 26, “of throwing her under the bus and going behind her back and backstabbing her” during the show, says the source. “They were back-and-forth arguing even when they were both seated among the other women.” Another contestant, Marikh Mathias, 28, broke down after getting into a fight with single mom Chelsea Roy, 29, while debating a “glam-shaming” incident “and even went backstage to cry to producers because the girls were being so mean to her.”
Arie didn’t seem to care. “He barely even looked at the women from the moment he walked on to the moment he walked off,” says the source. And though he’d previously admitted to falling in love with two women, “he didn’t comment about his current situation,” adds the source. “All he’d say was, ‘I’m really happy.’” ◼
“Tia wanted closure,” says the source. “She got emotional and mentioned that she was ‘disgusted’ by Arie.”