Exclusive: Can Arie Luyendyk Jr. Ever Recover From His ‘Bachelor’ Betrayal? A Crisis Consultant Weighs In

Arie Luyendyk Jr. may be the most hated man not just in Bachelor Nation, but in America at this moment.

After dumping fiancée Becca Kufrin on camera for her runner-up Lauren Burnham, proposing to the latter on Tuesday’s After the Final Rose special, everything from anti-Arie billboards to legislation has popped up.

And while Becca will get another chance at love on The Bachelorette, will Arie ever be able to redeem himself?

PopCulture.com turned to crisis and branding expert Mark Macias, who has run crisis communications campaigns for politicians, financial groups and nonprofits in addition to serving as an Executive Producer with NBC, for his take on Arie’s present and future.

Despite the mass of internet hatred directed at the 36-year-old race car driver right now, Macias doesn’t take issue with the way he answered questions about his decision during the After the Final Rose special Tuesday.

“Whoever coached him on PR did a good job,” Macias told PopCulture.com exclusively. “He didn’t blame Becca, he took ownership of his issue, he took responsibility for his decision.”

But, nonetheless, Arie has a massive image emergency on his hands, he continued.

“I don’t think he was as sincere … like do you really believe him now?” Macias told PopCulture.com, referencing Arie telling both Lauren and Becca he was in love with them prior to the finale. “Either he’s a pathological liar or he really does believe it.”

Macias admitted Arie is now in a tough position as a reality star inevitably searching for brand endorsements, because “their fame is so fleeting.”

“If gives the situation time, like two years, no one is going to remember Arie and no one is going to want to be associated with him,” he told PopCulture.com.

Macias recommends Arie “play up what [his] strength is,” which he sees as being able to turn his inability to decide between his two women into something more “tongue in cheek.”

Spitballing, Macias pitched a commercial for a brand like Taco Bell in which Arie is having trouble making another choice, this time not between women with dreams and feelings, but between menu items.

“He needs to position himself as a guy who can’t make a decision, but the funny part,” the Beat the Press: Your Guide to Managing the Media author reiterated.

But not all is without hope for the former Bachelor.

“He is definitely, as far as reality stars go, is at the top of the pole right now,” Macias told PopCulture.com. “His face is recognizable. There’s definitely interest in exploiting him.”

Photo credit: ABC