Arie Luyendyk Jr is a different man to different people. For reality TV junkies, he’s a reality TV star after appearing on The Bachelor reality show. For motor racing enthusiasts, he is the son of former racing driver Arie Luyendyk and also a racing driver, while for others he is a real estate broker. Close and personal, however, he is more than all of these things.
Arie Luyendyk Jr Biography (Age)
Arie Luyendyk Jr. was born in the Netherlands to Mieke Luyendyk and Arie Luyendyk on September 18, 1981.
At the time of his birth, his father’s career as a racing driver had already started and he was already a champion in his home country, the Netherlands. He was also racing in different parts of the world, including the United States.
However, things soon began to fall apart as he missed the cars and quit racing. It was then that the elder Luyendyk met a fellow Dutchman, Aat Groenevelt who agreed to sponsor him and a team of his choosing. Therefore, he moved with his wife, Arie Luyendyk Jr., who was then three years old, his daughter, and a team of three to the United States to further his career.
It was in the United States that became his home that the young Luyendyk grew up alongside two younger brothers Alec and Luca who are twins and an older sister, Maida Luyendyk.
As he continued to grow, Arie continued to see the feat of his father who won the Super Vee Championship immediately after arriving in the United States and who many years later would be inducted into the Motorsport Hall of Fame of America as well as at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame. Thanks to his influence, young Arie also fell in love with fast car sports.
In 1992, when he was just 11 years old, Arie started racing until the age of 16, then he competed in Formula Ford for the Sports Car Club of America. Especially competing in North America, Luyendyk Jr didn’t record the kind of success his father had. In the Stadium Super Trucks, where he is most famous, he recorded two wins in 52 starts, but no poles.
Wife, is he married?
Although his parents have been married for over four decades, it has been said that Luyendyk Jr has been rather indecisive about getting a wife, even though he was considered by many to be an eligible bachelor. But that wasn’t until he met Lauren Burnham, who he is now married to.
A rather controversial couple, the two met when they were on set for the 22nd season of The Bachelor in 2017. Of 22 women who competed for his heart on the reality series, Arie ultimately settled for Lauren, but this is only after his first proposal to Becca Kufrin. The engagement lasted two months before dropping the American publicist.
Shortly after, the former race car driver took a knee asking Lauren to marry him and although she was nervous to accept him because she wasn’t sure if he was now sure of what he wanted, she still said yes. They became husband and wife in January 2019 and are already expecting their first child.
The single person
As noted, Arie Luyendyk Jr appeared on the 22nd season of The Bachelor which ran from January 1, 2018 to March 6, 2018. By the end of the show, he was probably the most hated bachelor to ever be on the show, mostly due to how unsure he seemed about the woman he wanted.
While he received so much heat from viewers for ditching show winner Becca Kufrin for Lauren Burnham after hiring her, it wasn’t the first time something like this had happened on the show. In 2009, Jason Mesnick ended his engagement to Melissa Rycroft and instead chose to go with runner-up Molly Malaney.
After the show, a few anti-Arie billboards were sponsored in Los Angeles and Minnesota in support of Becca. Also, Drew Christensen, who at the time was a member of the Minnesota House of Representatives, sponsored a bill to ban Arie from the state that was Becca’s home state.
Net value
Regarding his fortune, Arie has an estimated net worth of $4 million. He made a better part of his wealth from his racing career.
