The new season of The Bachelor aired last night, which kicks off the race of Arie Luyendyk Jr.'s second chance at finding love on national TV. Naturally, it will all start out with Chris Harrison teasing that this season will be the most dramatic one yet, but with Arie, it just might well be true.

Choosing him for the coveted role of the leading man has proved just as controversial as when Nick Viall was chosen, if not more so since Arie hasn't been around the franchise for quite some time. Well, unless you count all of the Bachelor Nation alums he's dated since his days pursuing Emily Maynard. Like Nick, Arie is in his mid-30s and doesn't blink an eye about admitting he indeed has a past. That doesn't mean he's offering up any juicy details about that past though, so we're here to reveal a few secrets the new Bachelor doesn't want anyone to know.

A warning for huge fans—there are some spoilers ahead.

15 He got a Yoga instructor pregnant

It's no secret that there are a lot of women in Arie's past, even before he tried to win Emily's heart on The Bachelorette. Before Emily, he had one really serious relationship with a woman named Cassie Harshman. She and Arie were together for almost two years and actually lived together for a while. Cassie already had two children from a previous relationship, so Arie spent a good bit of time around the kids. They almost had a child together when Cassie got pregnant by Arie, but sadly ended up miscarrying. According to Reality Steve, he divulged all of this information to Emily during The Bachelorette. Many think Emily was upset in learning that he dated show producer Cassie Lambert, when in fact it was the other Cassie whom he shared a life with for so long.

14 He has an arrest record

Despite his recent ventures in real estate, Arie is best known as a race car driver. That means it's his job to drive fast. It would only make sense then that he might tend to drive a little too fast on the main road too, right? Not exactly. Arie has gotten himself into trouble for driving, but it was all due to negligence on his part rather than having a lead foot. In October 2008, he was arrested for driving with a suspended license. If that wasn't enough, he was arrested again just six days later. Yep, that's twice in the span of a week. This second offense was related to driving as well. Arie was caught driving without a valid registration this time. It's not like he's not the first Bachelor star to have a mug shot, though.

13 He's naively sent out spoilers

Not too many seasons ago, fans were shocked when the idealistic Ben Higgins told two women he loved them. The worst part of all, perhaps, was the aftermath. Ben chose Lauren Bushnell, and they got engaged. The two eventually split though, with their main reason being that Lauren had no idea Ben told JoJo he loved her too. Well, it appears that the curse of Ben Higgins has transferred to Arie, since he also told two women he was in love with them during the filming of his upcoming Bachelor season. According to Reality Steve, this isn't the only news Arie is spoiling about the ending. Steve has photos from social media that may just prove Arie is now engaged to Becca Kufrin. Instagram accounts from both Arie and Becca as well as one of Arie's close friends show familiar photos that just might prove Steve is right.

12 He's lobbied for this position for years

Many men want that coveted role of The Bachelor, but few are chosen. Perhaps nobody wants it as bad as Arie though, Nick Viall included. Let's flash back to several years ago when he wrote a guest post on his buddy Sean Lowe's blog. Arie told a heartwarming story and then mentioned that he was in talks to become the next Bachelor. He went on to say that he wanted this role to find love, which is what they all say, of course. Then, he even used the buzzword "journey" to finish it off. In the middle of that post, Sean included a link for readers to vote for whom they wanted to be the next Bachelor. The choices included Chris Soules, Nick Viall—both of whom have landed the role—and Arie.

While not all of Bachelor Nation reads Sean's blog, the majority of it does read Twitter. So, to make sure everyone knew Arie wanted the gig, he tweeted out that he would love to share his "journey" with everyone with the hashtag #bachelornation. Then, when Chris Soules landed the job instead, he tweeted again. This next tweet oozed of jealousy: “I’m not the Bachelor. Have fun on the farm people.”

11 He once claimed the franchise ruined his love life

It's funny how quickly things can change. For instance, one day Dean's America's golden boy and the next he's the biggest "F–boy" this side of Paradise. Now, Arie, of all people, is the next Bachelor. It may seem like he's wanted this role forever, but no more than a year before he desperately lobbied for it on Twitter (and Sean's blog), he told reporters that he wanted to focus on his career. Arie called racing his "first love" and said that he wanted to move on from the Bachelor franchise. He even went as far as to say that the show "cursed" his love life, making it impossible for him to find a serious relationship. That's a big statement for someone who would announce his candidacy for Bachelor later that same year.

10 He's not the settling type

Everyone knows by now that Arie has been linked to Courtney Robertson, AKA the winner of Ben Flajnik's Bachelor season. It's rumored that the two have had an on-again-off-again romance (or flirtation) for five years. So, it makes everyone wonder why these two never bit the bullet and just stayed together. One possibility could be that they both have a reputation of playing the field. Another possibility is that it's all Arie and his unwillingness to settle down. It's been said that Courtney knows Arie will never stay in one place too long and that it would never work for that reason.

His most recent "public" ex (unless we consider that the Courtney timeline might have overlapped) is Sydney Stempfley. She is perhaps best known for tweeting that he would have trouble settling on just one woman. Stempfley claimed that after their relationship ended, she realized that he had "hoes in different area codes" while they were together.

9 He tried to hang out with his recent ex right before filming

As we just mentioned, Arie tends to go back for more with his women. While Courtney seems glad to go another round with him all the time, Sydney wasn't so receptive of his advances. To give a little background, Sydney claims their breakup came out of nowhere not too long before Arie was announced as the next Bachelor. She was completely surprised when he was named the new leading man of ABC's dating show and understandably hurt. As if that weren't enough, she said that Arie asked if she wanted to hang out with him the weekend before he left to film the show. Sydney declined the offer to see him because he accused her of lying to the media. She had wanted closure, but it looks like that will now have to come in the form of him dating dozens of women at once. (At least this time it will be on TV, and the women will know about each other.)

8 He supposedly broke up with Emily

One of the biggest complaints about reality TV is that it's fake. Most of the time what is shown really happened, just in a different context, thanks to the shifty editing. However, there are some sources who claim Arie and Emily's breakup actually was fake. While they did breakup, the source claims that it went down differently than what was played out on TV for everyone to see. What is really said to have happened is that Arie broke it off with Emily because he found out that she also invited Jef Holm into the secretive Fantasy Suite. He had thought he was the only one she awarded this privilege and became very upset and angry with her. Producers didn't expect this reaction from Arie, so they talked him into filming the breakup the way they thought it should go.

7 He likes his women a little on the younger side

As soon as Arie was named the next Bachelor, there was plenty of people showing both love and hate about this ABC casting decision. One reddit post made its way to Reality Steve, who gladly shared with it with his many followers. This post was created by a former sorority girl who said that Arie liked to hit up the Phoenix area sorority parties and hook up with girls almost half his age. The same source said that Jef Holm accompanied Arie to many of these parties. That's when Twitter got really interesting as Jef said he had never done such a thing and then called Arie "disgusting." Even Arie's good pal (still) Sean Lowe said producers need to slap Arie every time he tries to give a rose to a really young girl. As if that weren't enough, Reality Steve released news years earlier about Arie (then 30) hooking up with 20-year-olds.

6 He might be a little too close to Courtney

We've already mentioned that Courtney and Arie have this special bond, so to speak, which has kept them coming back to one another for half a decade. In fact, they were linked romantically up until just a few months before his big Bachelor announcement. That would of course mean that she was the number one side chick in Arie's life. The two both live in Arizona now, and Courtney is responsible for starting Arie on his new venture in real estate. We have to wonder if she did this as an attempt to make him settle down.

Perhaps the biggest sign that he cares a little too much about Courtney (still) is that he told her about his Bachelor casting before anyone else. Courtney said that he contacted her on his way to the airport with the big news. Meanwhile, Arie's parents found out with the rest of the world when he showed up on Good Morning America. Courtney also said she knew he had been contacted by ABC, so he must still have frequent contact with her.

5 He has an ex's name tattooed on his body

We've already divulged the history between Arie and Cassie—not Bachelor producer Cassie Lambert but rather Yoga chick, Cassie Harshman. Remember this is a woman he lived with for a year and even fathered a child with her before she lost the baby. These two were obviously a committed couple at one point, so it only makes sense that they would take that next big step in their relationship. We would say get married, but in Arie's sleazy world that next big step meant getting couples' tattoos. Yep, Arie had Cassie's name tattooed on his body and she did the same with his name on her body. This may have hurt his chances at winning Emily's heart on The Bachelorette, so he got an awful-looking wing tatted on his inner arm before the show to cover up Cassie's name.

4 He talked his way onto Emily's season

Much like Arie wasn't even on the radar to be the star of The Bachelor until the very last minute, he wasn't even being considered for The Bachelorette until the very end either. It's common knowledge that Cassie Lambert (Bachelor producer Cassie, not Yoga chick Cassie) dated Arie in the past. She, along with other producers, gave Arie a call one day to ask about another race car driver whom they were considering for the show. While on the call, Arie made it known that he would like to be considered for a spot as well. They pretty much told him all the slots had been filled but that they would remember that in case something changed. A month later, they called him in for a last-minute casting. So, it sounds like the last minute is the best timing for Arie.

3 He's really insecure

It's pretty common for people who like to draw a lot of attention to themselves and who seem really confident to secretly deal with insecurity issues. Arie Luyendyk Jr. is no exception, as he has lived out his life in his famous father's shadow. Many reports reveal that the younger Arie is insecure about the fact that he hasn't lived up to the driving potential of his father, who has a much better winning record when it comes to racing. Known as the Flying Dutchman, Arie Sr. won two Indianapolis 500 races and holds several racing records. He was also a successful driver in the Netherlands before racing in the US. By comparison, Arie Jr. hasn't won near as many races as his father, and even the races he has won weren't as notable as the ones his father did.

2 He may be the Bachelor by default

The Bachelor is known for going to its leftovers to find a leading man. However, the franchise usually doesn't dig so deep that the leftovers have begun to spoil. The new guy of the hour is usually the yummy dessert leftover from last season of The Bachelorette. And like a delicious piece of cake, viewers are excited for more. With Arie, though, it seems like they had to clean out the refrigerator and finally found that container in the very back that was causing such a stink.

Yet, the real reason they went with Arie is because so many others before him caused a stink. Many wanted Peter as the next Bachelor, but with little chances that he would propose (it was a sticking point that ruined his chances with Bachelorette Rachel Lindsay), producers decided against him. It was said that Eric lacked the charisma needed to lead the show, and anyone who watched Paradise knows why Dean didn't get the gig. Digging back to JoJo's season didn't leave many viable options either, so they went way back with Arie.

1 He's a fame hog

This might not come as too much of a surprise, since many people go on these dating shows for "the wrong reasons." Still, it's not something that Arie would want people to think about him. It seems like the more a person shows up in the Bachelor franchise, the more fame hungry he or she actually is (e.g. Nick Viall). Arie was in question from the beginning, though, by none other than that long lost romantic interest Cassie Harshman. At the time of Emily's season, Cassie said Arie was on it for the fame. She also claimed that he hadn't done much on the racing front in some time and was craving more attention. Ironically, he started racing again after The Bachelorette, possibly hoping the show might have given him the boost he needed. Now that he's finally back on the reality show. But only time will tell if he's in it "for the right reasons."