A source tells ET that weeks after Luyendyk blindsided her with their breakup, she was ready to become the Bachelorette.
Two months after Arie Luyendyk Jr. dumped her for his runner-up, Becca Kufrin couldn't be more ready to be the Bachelorette.
Fans watched Luyendyk and Kufrin's brutal breakup play out on the season finale of The Bachelor last week, but a source tells ET that Kufrin was done mourning her engagement in January -- and Bachelor producers were integral in helping her get over the split.
"Becca cried for a solid week after Arie dumped her, and that was really therapeutic," the source says. "Some of the fans criticized how upset she was portrayed on TV, but having producers with her as she got over it all really helped. They knew the story, and she couldn't talk to anyone else about it at the time. They cried with her, and she was used to being filmed at that point, so it felt normal."
"Ultimately Arie was the one who had chosen to make it so public," the source adds.
According to ET's source, while producers can't speak much about Luyendyk's shocking decision, there was "an overall feeling of 'ugh' about everything Arie did, because they do want real love to be found. They want positive relationships." And while Kufrin's relationship with Luyendyk ended in a blindside, producers quickly knew they wanted to give her a second shot at finding love.
"Discussions for her to be Bachelorette started about a week after she had that week of mourning the relationship," the source reveals. "Producers want to help her take a negative experience and turn it into something positive. They felt awful about what had happened to her."
"Becca had this realization that, look, if Arie was going to treat her like that, then he wasn't the guy for her," the source shares. "She wants to move on from it and she's ready. She takes everything as a learning experience."
The 27-year-old publicist was revealed as the Bachelorette on last week's The Bachelor: After the Final Rose, where she already met her first five suitors. The show starts filming with limo exits on Thursday. "She's now been kind of sequestered as Bachelorette, and that's helped her get focused," ET's source says. "She's feeling so good about what's next."
Another source told ET on Thursday that fans can expect Kufrin to have her "guard up a bit" as filming begins, but that she's remaining "positive" about the experience. "She's not one of those people who went on the show for Instagram followers,” the source said. “She's got a killer job, she's a good person and she really wants to find somebody."
Kufrin's season of The Bachelorette premieres May 28 on ABC. See more in the video below.
Reporting by Lauren Zima.
RELATED CONTENT:
