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Arie Is Being Mentioned *A Lot* On Becca's 'Bachelorette' Season

by Anna Rose Iovine

By now, all of Bachelor Nation knows why Becca is The Bachelorette: because Arie broke her heart by picking her and then changing his mind. But seriously, Becca's season is almost over and Arie is still being talked about. Twitter wants The Bachelorette to stop bringing up Arie and honestly, I can't imagine how Arie must feel watching this season either (not that he doesn't deserve the shade).

Monday night was the fantasy suite date on The Bachelorette, so there are three men left which means this season is rapidly coming to an end. It makes sense that Arie was mentioned in the first and even second episode. Come on, Arie is the reason Becca is The Bachelorette, after all. If he hadn't changed his mind, he and Becca would still be together.

If Becca was just in second place, there's no way of knowing if Bachelorette producers would've chosen her for the lead. Tia was definitely a choice for Bachelorette, and I have a feeling she thought it would be her. At the time she told The Hollywood Reporter, "I would definitely consider coming back to be Bachelorette." She continued, "I learned to be more vocal and express my feelings and thoughts. I’ve always put other people first and I learned to focus. I love this crew and all these amazing people."

But, as fate would have it, it didn't go down that way. After Arie dumped Becca on TV, there was really no other choice for Bachelorette. So yes, fans like me get it: Arie was the initial reason that Becca became this season's lead, but her own season is almost over now. During Blake's fantasy suite date when he expressed anxiety, Becca once again mentioned Arie — and fans weren't happy:

On one hand, I understand. She was relating to her experiences last year with Arie in the fantasy suite, so she wanted to relate with Blake's worry. Even though, as Bachelor Nation knows, Becca and Arie were in the dang desert for their fantasy suite, which sounds pretty, well, not fantastic. Her fancy hotel room was definitely an upgrade, but due to how important the fantasy suite dates are I can see why Becca would relate back to her time with Arie. But honestly, I wish the show as a whole would move on and let Becca be the lead. It's okay if she willingly talks about Arie herself — she's the one who went through the trauma, after all — but when other people like contestants or Garrett's dad last week do, what gives?

To be fair, not every fan is tired of the Arie-bashing. Some celebrate it:

I understand this take too, but are we going to get to the finale and still be bashing Arie? I suppose this season is different because of how ended Becca ended up The Bachelorette, but I think it's time to let Becca be independent of Arie.

Before this season began, Becca said she's forgiven Arie in an interview with People. "He had to follow his heart," Becca said. "I could never fault somebody for that. I forgave him." In that case, can we all stop talking about Arie at this point? I don't care about him; he and Lauren can be happy in their Arizona home. I care more about seeing Becca find love and seeing how it all shakes out. Hopefully as the show gets closer to the finale, the Arie mentions diminish and the focus is all on Becca.