Former Wisconsinite and 'Bachelor' Arie Luyendyk Jr. and his wife, Lauren, are launching a date planning app

There's a new app for "datespiration" and date planning. And it was co-created by a former Wisconsinite and his wife, who both know a little somethin' somethin' about love.

Former "Bachelor" Arie Luyendyk Jr., who spent years of his childhood in Brookfield, and his wife, Lauren Burnham Luyendyk, who he met on the show, have co-created DUO: Dates Unlike Others.

"I think so many couples, whether it's they get busy with work or they're raising kids, you kind of lose touch with each other," Arie Jr. told the Journal Sentinel. "I think this is a great way to bond a couple in a totally different and new way."

The app — set to launch nationwide Wednesday — will offer an ever-updating array of date ideas at no cost. With a premium membership, users will be able to order "Surprise Dates," and later this year, join "Group Dates."

Here's what to know about DUO, a look at Arie Jr.'s time in the cheese state and more.

How Arie and Lauren got together, and why the married couple came up with DUO

Arie Jr. was the runner-up on "The Bachelorette" in 2012.

About five years later, Arie Jr. became "The Bachelor." He initially proposed to Becca Kufrin. But weeks later, he rescinded his offer to pursue a relationship with Lauren, the original runner-up.

"I made some bad decisions, but the best decision was running back to you," Luyendyk said during his proposal on the show's "After the Final Rose" special. "I should have done this a long time ago."

Arie Jr. and Lauren married in 2019 at Maui's Haiku Mill.

The couple frequently gets asked a handful of the same questions, one of the big ones being: "How did our relationship work out when it comes to being a 'Bachelor' couple?" Arie Jr. said. "So many couples, it doesn't really work at the end of the day."

One of the reasons they credit: "We never stopped dating and we never stopped making time for each other," Arie Jr. said.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Lauren got "very creative" with date planning for them, from doing goat yoga in their backyard to hot air ballooning.

Since they were always doing "outside of the box" dates, friends suggested that the pair put their ideas out there for others.

Years prior, their friends had worked with Scottsdale-based app developer Net-Craft — a web, ecommerce and mobile app development company — on a fitness app.

The Luyendyks worked with the same developer to bring their vision to life.

DUO's no-cost version provides date inspo for couples

Users can swipe through hundreds of free ideas "to gain inspiration to plan their own date," Arie Jr. said. And they can "favorite" their top choices.

Dates range from common to unique ones, such as putting an inflatable mattress on a body of water, whether it be a pool or lake, and watching the movie "Jaws"; plant shopping; having dinner in a greenhouse; and doing all of the couple's favorite things in one date.

Arie Jr. said the plan is to continuously upload new date ideas to keep the app fresh.

DUO's premium membership features surprise and group dates

The premium feature that will be available when the app first launches is "Surprise Date," a date curated for couples by the Luyendyks or other date experts, including ones who've planned dates for reality TV shows.

"It's a lot like our experience when we first met," Arie Jr. said. "We met on reality TV, and we never really knew what we were getting into. And that surprise factor really bonded us. And I think that's something everyone should experience."

Users fill out a questionnaire on the app, sharing their unique interests and needs, and their desires for the date — the mood, indoors or outdoors, the budget, and more.

When a date order is received, the app's date planners begin organizing an outing that'll be a "complete surprise" to both partners. After the date is all set up, the couples will be given the time, location, what to wear and what to bring, Arie Jr. said.

Soon, the app will also offer a group date option, where couples will be introduced via the app and then meet up at a planned date, such as a group surf session or a lantern festival, Arie Jr. said.

What was it like for Arie and Lauren to work together on this project?

"We work together every, single day in some capacity," Lauren said. "We're pretty similar, though, so I think we work together well."

Lauren is more of a creative, Arie Jr. said. When he gets dragged down by details, he said, she helps bring him out of that rut.

"We definitely have a good balance," Arie Jr. said.

What are some of the couple's own favorite dates?

One of Lauren's favorite dates, which they do pretty regularly, is popping up an inflatable movie screen in their Scottsdale backyard.

"We like to be with our kids, and it's easy for us to do that at home with them too," she said. The pair have three children: A daughter, born in 2019, and fraternal twins born in 2021.

The family also has a house in "beautiful, picturesque" Maui, Arie Jr. said, so surfing and hiking dates are also go-tos.

What is Arie Luyendyk Jr.'s connection to Wisconsin?

Arie Jr., who was born in the Netherlands, said Brookfield was the first place his family migrated to from Holland when his dad — two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Arie Luyendyk Sr. — got a sponsor in the area.

Arie Sr. had his base of operations in Wisconsin from 1984 to 1990, then the family relocated to Scottsdale.

Following in his father's tire tracks, Arie Jr. competed in the Indy and other circuits, and in the 2006 Indianapolis 500 before leaving racing in 2008. He's been in real estate since 2004, he said.

Some of Arie Jr.'s favorite Wisconsin memories? Playing in the snow, and when he and his dad got to return over the years to race on the Milwaukee Mile.

"Milwaukee will always be near and dear to my heart," Arie Jr. said.

What Arie Luyendyk Jr. and Lauren Burnham Luyendyk are up to nowadays

Arie took a step back from real estate this year and distributed his work among his 18 agents, he said, so that he could focus on the app.

"I think I'll always do real estate in some capacity," he said. "I definitely have a passion for it."

Lauren has been putting her energy into the app, raising the kids and doing fashion collaborations.

The family also shares glimpses into their life via their popular YouTube channel, youtube.com/@LaurenAndArie.

Where to find the app and how much it costs

The app is iOS and Android compatible, and will be available on the AppStore and Google Play.

A premium membership costs $9.99 per month, which includes one "Surprise Date" plan per month, the ability to chat with a date expert, and when it goes live, access to the "Group Date" feature. Premium members can purchase additional "Surprise Date" plans for $24.99.

Non-members can pay $49.99 for an à la carte "Surprise Date" plan.

For more info, visit datesonduo.com and instagram.com/datesonduo.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Bachelor Arie Luyendyk Jr., Lauren Burnham made DUO date planning app