Bachelor's Caroline Lunny Said Arie Luyendyk Jr. Loved Attention

Months after getting down on one knee and proposing to Becca Kufrin, on the finale of The Bachelor, Arie Luyendyk Jr. changed his mind, dumped Becca and got back together with runner-up Lauren Burnham.

Becca was completely blindsided by the January breakup, her close friend and fellow contestant Caroline Lunny confirmed to Life & Style. To Becca, the engagement to Arie “was real,” Caroline says in an interview. “There are videos of them putting up a Christmas tree together — you know what I mean?”

“They were goofy — just like a normal couple.” Caroline tells Life & Style Becca did not want to hold on to the engagement ring Arie gave to her. “She didn’t want to keep that,” says Caroline.

Looking back, though, Caroline says there were signs Arie, 36, had other priorities. “I think he was in love with the attention [of being the Bachelor],” she explains. “Like, when it was all over, he said something to Becca like, ‘Oh, everyone cared and now no one cares.'”

Becca — who has no ill will toward Lauren, an insider says — is determined to let go of her anger with Arie, put the pain behind her and find a man who truly deserves her. She was even open to being the Bachelorette in the next season or down the road, the insider says.