Keeping his distance. Arie Luyendyk Jr. revealed that he’s been self-isolating from wife Lauren Burnham and their 18-month-old daughter, Alessi, after testing positive for the novel coronavirus.
“Many of you have been wondering … why we’ve been so absent on social media and why I’m sitting, like, 25 feet away from the girls,” the 39-year-old former Bachelor said in a video uploaded to his Instagram Story on Thursday, November 26. “It’s because I actually tested positive for COVID … like, nine days ago. Tomorrow I get to go in and see if I’m all clear. It’s been rough, I’ve gotta say. It’s not been easy.”
As he opened up about the state of his health, the retired racing driver thanked his wife, 29, for the efforts she’s taken to keep their family safe amid the pandemic.
“I’ve been on the other side of the house. Lauren has been really sweet,” he continued. “She’s been keeping me fed. She just slides some food outside and then I go get it.”
The couple tied the knot in January 2019 after meeting on season 22 of The Bachelor. Before proposing to Burnham, his runner-up, Luyendyk Jr. was briefly engaged to Becca Kufrin. The former pair called off their engagement in a televised breakup following the season finale, which aired in 2018.
Luyendyk Jr. and Burnham welcomed their daughter in May 2019. As he continues to recover from his battle with COVID-19, the reality TV personality gave fans a peek at how he and his family were celebrating a socially-distant Thanksgiving.
“Thanksgiving 2020 has been different,” Luyendyk Jr. wrote in a separate Instagram Story on Thursday, waving to his wife and daughter from the other side of a long dinner table on their patio. “I’m so thankful for you,” he called out to the toddler.
Apart from the health scare, the Bachelor Nation couple have been through a challenging few months. In May, Burnham revealed in an emotional YouTube video that she had suffered a miscarriage.
“A little over a month ago, we got the most exciting news and we found out that we were pregnant with our second baby,” the couple said in the video. “We made so many plans. We bought a new house with more space, we planned how we wanted to tell you all and we envisioned our future with Alessi’s little brother/sister. … Unfortunately, we didn’t get the happy story we had hoped for.”
Despite the heartbreaking loss, the couple have attempted to keep their heads held high. In August, Burnham told Us Weekly exclusively that she and her husband are actively trying to conceive again.
“I was always afraid that it wouldn’t work,” she said at the time. “I think that’s kind of a valid fear if you’ve gone through something like that or just a fear of having to go through it again. So that’s scary, but you can’t really think of all the scary things. You just have to move on.”
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