All season long, the ratings for ABC's The Bachelor have been down compared to its previous season, as BuzzFeed News reported last week. So when the glossy gossip magazines, led by Us Weekly, began reporting — on Us's cover, no less — that Arie Luyendyk Jr. was going to propose to one woman during the finale and then change his mind afterward in order to date the woman he'd rejected, the leak seemed like a tactic designed by the show's producers to drum up interest in this wilted, uneventful season. After all, spoilers for The Bachelor are always out there, particularly as reported by Reality Steve, but through some sort of social contract, mainstream gossip rags never spoil the show. (Us did not reveal who was proposed to and who was jilted, only that Arie had changed his mind.)

Well, the strategy worked: The finale ratings spiked over the show's shriveled season average, drawing an audience of 7.8 million viewers and a 2.2 among 18-to-49-year-olds, the demographic advertisers seek. Of course, that is still down from Nick Viall's season finale last year, which brought in 8.2 million viewers and a 2.6 in the demo. But this season's Bachelor, dragged down by Arie's lack of charisma and odd choices in dates (one group date took place in a bowling alley in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida), had a lot to overcome. Its season average is still way down — 6.2 million viewers and a 1.7 compared to 2017's 7.3 million viewers and a 2.3.

Monday's finale took place over three hours, with Arie proposing to Becca Kufrin at the end of the second hour, which is always the way it goes. But then the show broke with tradition in its third hour, which usually is an After the Final Rose live update on how the engaged couple (and the ex) are doing.