If anything, heartbreak perfectly prepared Bachelorette Becca Kufrin for her proverbial journey for love.
Last fall, the Bachelor’s Arie Luyendyk Jr. proposed to the 28-year-old, only to dump her two months later — all of which was documented on national TV. “You go through all the emotions of being sad and you don’t want to leave your bed, you question everything,” she recalls to Us. “But I still wanted to be me and live my life as normally as possible.”
Instead of wallowing, she looked within. “I learned how strong I can be,” says the ABC star. “I saw how he acted and handled things. It made me realize how I wanted to handle my journey, how I wanted to treat the guys with respect.”
That compassion led to her fairy-tale ending. On the Monday, August 6, finale of the love hunt, the Minnesota publicist eagerly accepted a Neil Lane sparkler from medical sales rep Garrett Yrigoyen. “He just makes me feel like a princess,” she gushed to Us in June. “I’ve never felt like this in a relationship before, where it just feels so right and I know it’s going to last.”
As their new journey begins, the duo will first embrace going public with their romance. “The number one thing I’m most looking forward to is getting a Costco membership,” jokes Kufrin. “And just holding hands as we walk down the street.”
Outside of shopping wholesale, an even greater task awaits: finding a home. (She lives in Minneapolis; he’s based in Reno, Nevada.) “I don’t know where we’re going to end up, honestly!” she confesses. “I’ve said since day one I’m willing to do whatever I need to do to make the relationship work. I love the Midwest, but I’m cool with being somewhere else, too.”
Location aside, she believes they are destined for domestic bliss. “We bring out the best versions of each other and really build each other up,” she says of Yrigoyen, 29. “He keeps me laughing and feeling youthful!”
A feeling she’s sure will last forever. Though they haven’t begun planning their vows — “we talk here and there but there’s no time line” — they do plan on expanding their family soon. But not in the usual way: “I’m super excited for us to get a dog in the next couple of months,” Kufrin tells Us. “I want as many dogs as possible. I don’t know if he’ll go for that, so I might try to work on it!”
