Another member of Bachelor Nation is sharing their reaction to Jenn Tran’s awkward interview moment with Kelly Ripa.
“I was always a fan of hers until I was the bachelor,” Arie Luyendyk Jr., who starred on season 22 of the ABC reality dating show in 2018, wrote in the comments of Us Weekly’s Instagram on Thursday, July 11. “Felt like I had my back against the wall whenever I was being interviewed by her.”
Us has reached out to Ripa’s reps for comment.
Luyendyk, 42, was weighing in on a post about fellow Bachelor Nation star Ashley Iaconetti’s comments on the viral interview between Tran, 26, and Ripa, 53. On the Monday, July 8, episode of Live With Kelly and Mark, Ripa asked The Bachelorette star why she chose to pursue finding love on the show versus in real-life.
“I have a question,” Tran proceeded to ask Ripa. “When did you meet your husband? … On TV, no?”
Though Ripa confirmed she met her husband, Mark Consuelos, while working on the soap opera All My Children, the cohost seemingly insinuated that leads of The Bachelorette and The Bachelor aren’t truly falling in love with authentic people, but rather contestants playing a part.
“Those are not the same. We were both professional,” she stated. “Are you acting on your show? I didn’t marry [Mark’s character] Mateo Santos. I married Mark Consuelos.”
Following the episode, Entertainment Weekly reported that neither women were offended by the other’s comments, but were “ribbing each other during the conversation.” According to the outlet, “the interview was well received on both ends.”
A source told Us that Ripa “asks the questions that people would want asked, it’s part of what makes the show great, adding, “The show’s numbers have been up since Mark has been cohosting, the back and fourth is good for the show, it opens up the conversation and that’s what they’re trying to accomplish.”
While Tran may not have taken offense to Ripa’s remarks, Iaconetti, 36, was not a fan of their interaction. “It disappoints me when I see that Kelly Ripa has such an ax to grind with The Bachelor franchise,” she stated on the Thursday, July 11, episode of the “Almost Famous” podcast. “Every time we have a lead go on the show to promote it, she always seems to be so skeptical of — a little bit of the lead, and their decision to be the lead — and also just the process.”
Noting that there are “so many reality shows out there that are so much more trashy,” Iaconetti implied that Ripa “just seems to really shame the show.” Her podcast cohost, former Bachelor Ben Higgins, supported her argument by citing his own interview experiences with Ripa.
“[She] definitely doesn’t like the show,” he joked. “I don’t know if they, like, denied her Bachelorette role at some point. … If you look back on past interviews with past leads on the Kelly Live show, it always gets awkward. Because it’s always questioning and it puts you in a weird place to have to respond to questions that you can’t really answer.”
Higgins, 35, praised Tran for being the “first time” one of the leads has spoken back at Ripa, but also noted that Ripa’s comments about her and Consuelos’ love story were “not untrue.” He added: “But I think the bigger picture is you can find love in the most random, in the most unexpected places.”
The Bachelorette airs on ABC Mondays at 8 p.m. ET.
