Arie Luyendyk Jr. apparently pulled a Ben Higgins on his own season of The Bachelor.

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As viewers recall, Ben starred on Season 20 of The Bachelor and told both his winner, Lauren Bushnell, and runner-up, JoJo Fletcher, that he was in love with them.

Ben's honesty and openness was admirable, but his behavior ultimately damaged his relationship with Lauren post-show, as she struggled to deal with the fact her fiance loved someone else -- possibly equally -- at the time he proposed marriage to her.

Well, Arie has revealed to ABC News that he also told multiple women he loved them during his search for love on The Bachelor's 22nd edition, which premieres Monday, January 1 at 8PM ET/PT on ABC.

"I told more than one person that I was in love and it made it hard for me," Arie confessed.

"I think that I didn't really expect that. I didn't know that I had that capacity to love more than one person at a time and I think that's something that some of the Bachelors go through and it's difficult."

The pro racing driver turned real estate agent from Scottsdale, AZ, told Reality TV World last week that he fell in love with two bachelorettes. However, it's a rare occasion when a star from the franchise actually admits those feelings of love to more than one person.

In a typical finale, a Bachelor or Bachelorette chooses to only say, "I love you," to the winner before presenting the final rose.

But Arie doesn't seem to regret his decision to be so candid, at least not right now.

"I'm glad that I left myself open and got to experience that, for sure," Arie told ABC News.

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Arie was nicknamed "The Kissing Bandit" when he first appeared on The Bachelorette starring Emily Maynard because she thought he was such a great kisser, but for his own season, the handsome 36-year-old wanted to take things slowly.

In fact, Emily's runner-up told ABC News that he was determined not to kiss any of the beautiful ladies on Night 1 -- a plan which didn't work out thanks to a particularly confident woman who planted one on him.

"That was pretty cool," noted Arie, who began the process with 29 bachelorettes. 

"As far as kissing throughout the season, I think it's just when that moment sort of feels right, so yeah, I'm a romantic and I do love kissing. I feel like the physical side of a relationship is important, so yeah, there will be some kissing."

Arie has yet to confirm whether he got engaged at the end of the process, but he definitely seems happy overall with his journey on the reality dating show.

RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELOR' COUPLES NOW: WHO DID 'THE BACHELOR' STARS AND THEIR BACHELORETTE PICKS ULTIMATELY END UP WITH? (PHOTOS)

"[Before the show] I didn't know what to expect and now it feels like almost a lifetime ago," Arie revealed. "Now I'm out of it, I'm home and I'm happy. It exceeded my expectations."


About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski

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