The Bachelor: Hannah Brown Sobs Over Peter Weber — But He Doesn't Want to Be Her 'Third Option'
WARNING: This post contains spoilers from Monday’s season premiere of The Bachelor.
Welcome back, Bachelor fans.
As Monday’s three-hour premiere of Peter Weber‘s season began, the charming pilot from Westlake Village, California — just minutes away from the Bachelor mansion! — insisted he was ready for a fresh start after his relationship with Hannah Brown on The Bachelorette.
“I am so excited. I have no idea what’s coming, but I know that my life will never be the same,” said Peter, 28. “Even though I was in love with Hannah and the relationship didn’t work out, I’m taking so much of the relationship with me moving forward.”
We were introduced to a select handful of the 30 contestants vying for his heart. One standout was Kelley, a 27-year-old attorney from Chicago. As it turns out, Kelley and Peter had actually met before, by chance, in a hotel lobby in California. She was there for a friend’s wedding and he was there for his 10-year high school reunion.
“It’s hard not to look at that situation and think that wasn’t a major sign being sent to me, like, ‘Hey, you should really do this,'” Kelley said.
Night one was soon underway, and with the first batch of women in the limo on their way to the mansion, host Chris Harrison asked Peter what would become the million-dollar question by the end of the episode: “Are you over Hannah?”
“I am,” Peter said. “I would not be here tonight if I wasn’t ready to put that behind me and move forward.”
From there began the entrances, with some of the women performing the usual antics in the hopes of standing out on an overwhelming first night. A common reference was Peter’s much-touted night in the windmill with Hannah on The Bachelorette. One contestant, Kylie, offered him a pack of condoms, and another, Deandra, showed up with a windmill on her back to ask if he was “ready for round five.” (In case you missed it, Peter and Hannah had sex four times during their night in the Fantasy Suite.) Perhaps the boldest entrance of all was that of Savannah, who blindfolded Peter in the driveway and planted the first kiss of the night on him just minutes after they met.
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But nothing created a bigger splash than when Hannah herself stepped out of a limo. The second someone spotted her, the mansion descended into chaos. Peter seemed shocked, but also genuinely pleased to see her.
WATCH: The Bachelor’s Peter on Hannah’s Return: All of Those Emotions Resurfaced
Much to everyone’s relief, Hannah came in peace, wanting simply to return the pilot wings that Peter had gifted her on The Bachelorette.
“When I heard that you were going to be the Bachelor, I had mixed emotions,” she told him. “But when I stood where you are, you said you wanted to find your co-pilot and you gave me something. And I want you to find that person and so I brought these back for you. You’re going to be great.”
Inside, Peter made a point to reassure the rest of the women.
“I know some of you may have seen Hannah, she just stopped by. And I fell in love with her, I truly did,” he admitted. “But she gave me back my wings, that’s what I had given her the first night. It was really cool and I appreciated it. If anything, seeing her tonight has just given me more hope moving forward that this could happen again and I can find love.”
The cocktail party commenced, a blur of champagne, awkward confrontations and first kisses. “I didn’t expect to be kissing so many girls!” Peter said with a bashful grin. “But it just kind of happened.”
He seemed particularly drawn to Kelley, admitting he had been hoping she’d be on the show. But he was most taken by Hannah Ann, who won the first impression rose as Peter joked, “I think there’s room for two Hannahs in my life.”
Then came the first rose ceremony, where eight women — Avonlea, Eunice, Jade, Jenna, Katrina, Kylie, Maurissa and Megan — were sent packing.
The next morning, Hannah Ann, Kelley, Deandra, Tammy, Courtney, Shiann, Victoria P., Jasmine and Victoria F. headed out on the first group date. After a crash course in aviation, they were put to the test with an obstacle course on the tarmac. Kelley won (even though she cheated in the final round), which meant she got to take a sunset flight down the coast with Peter.
The evening portion of the group date just so happened to take place at the Four Seasons in Westlake Village, the same hotel where Kelley and Peter met — so it was no surprise when she took home the rose up for grabs that night after a steamy make-out session with the man of the hour.
Up next was the first one-on-one date, which went to Madison, a 23-year-old foster parent recruiter from Auburn, Alabama. (And yes, the coincidence of another Alabama girl was not lost on Peter, who joked, “I’ve got a thing for Southern girls, I guess!”)
Little did Madison know, she had just landed what might be the most special date we’ll see all season: Peter brought her home to his parents’ house, where he officiated their vow renewal ceremony in front of an intimate group of family and friends.
“Today was a very special day for me and my family,” he said. “Being able to share that with Madison, I hope that shows her where I get my inspiration from.”
Madison got along swimmingly with Peter’s mom, Barbara — and even caught the bouquet at the end of the day. “I feel so welcomed by everyone here,” she said. “This was the most incredible first date I’ve ever been on in my life.”
RELATED: Chris Harrison Says Hannah Brown Went on The Bachelor to Get a ‘Clean Break’ from Peter Weber
Peter was on the same page, giving Madison a rose after what they both agreed was a “perfect first date.”
“I wasn’t expecting to have feelings so soon,” she told him. “It’s scary, because this is going to be really hard, having to share you.”
“I wish I could tell you it’s going to get easier, but it’s probably not,” he admitted. “But I can see your heart already and I will do whatever I can to protect that and guard that for you.”
The two ended the evening with a live performance by Tenille Arts — and were surprised by Peter’s family, who showed up to dance the rest of the night away.
The next morning, Lauren, Sydney, Payton, Natasha, Alexa, Kelsey, McKenna, Alayah and Savannah headed out on the second group date. Peter teased that a “very good friend” of his had planned it, but he insisted he had no idea what they would be doing. Surprise, surprise, the “friend” turned out to be Hannah Brown.
Hannah kicked things off with a story about a guy she once dated, and it didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out she was talking about Peter and their now not-so-private night in the Fantasy Suite together.
“I started wondering, is he just a nice guy?” she said. “And then he proved me wrong. And then he proved me wrong again, and again, and then again in the morning. Yeah, four f—ing times.”
“The more confident you are about who you are and your sexuality, the more confident you can be in a relationship,” she told the contestants. “So you all are going to share a personal story about sex! It can be a memorable time or just a fantasy that you may have — and you’re going to do this in front of a live audience.”
As the women went off to prepare their stories, Hannah confided in a producer, admitting she still cared for Peter but knew it wouldn’t “work.” Soon enough, she was crying alone backstage, and Peter popped in to check on her.
“This is so weird,” he acknowledged, sitting down next to her on the couch.
“I know. I’m really sorry,” Hannah said. “I’m really happy for you, but it’s just a lot.”
It was a lot for Peter, too. He admitted that when he saw Hannah at the mansion on night one, he was “kind of hoping that you weren’t just dropping something off, but that you were coming in.”
“But I didn’t need that, and I appreciated you bringing the wings back,” he told her. “You didn’t have to do that. I gave those to you, and no matter what, you’re always going to mean so much to me.”
The conversation turned to Hannah’s season of The Bachelorette, with the former pageant queen admitting her “heart was very confused.” (On the show, she accepted a marriage proposal from her final pick Jed Wyatt, but ended up calling off the engagement after learning that he allegedly had a girlfriend when he went on the show. Tyler Cameron came in second, and Peter third.)
“I don’t know what I did,” Hannah told Peter between sobs, mascara streaming down her face. “I don’t know what the f— I was doing.”
After dumping Jed, Hannah asked Tyler out on the live After the Final Rose conclusion to her season in July. It didn’t work out, as he soon started dating Gigi Hadid — but on Monday’s episode, Peter wondered why she hadn’t asked him out instead.
“You know how you asked Tyler out on the last episode? Did it ever cross your mind to maybe ask me, or … ?” he said. “I haven’t asked you that, and it’s been on my mind for a long time.”
“I’m just being very honest with you — watching that next episode that night live and then seeing that happen, for me, that was it,” he continued. “I don’t want to be someone’s third option at all. So then it was just tough, because I found out that you moved 20 minutes from where I live. And all this stuff kept happening. I thought that I was not confused, but now I don’t know.”
“What the f— am I doing right now?” he wondered aloud. “I don’t know what I’m doing. What would you — this is so insane. What would you say if I asked you to come be part of the house?”
Hannah, still crying, didn’t quite give him a straight answer, simply saying, “I mean, maybe?” But Peter kept pushing, demanding to know whether she regretted sending him home on her season.
“Yeah, Peter,” she replied. “I question it all the time.”
“I mean, I told you — I had no doubts that it was you and Jed. That you were going to meet my family,” she continued. “I don’t think I wanted to change my mind about Jed. It was comfortable, it was falling back into the same thing. But like, I broke everybody’s heart and my own through this experience.”
RELATED VIDEO: Tyler Cameron Doesn’t Regret Being Unavailable for The Bachelor — ‘They Got the Right Guy For It’
Circling back to the Tyler situation, Peter said his “heart sank” when Hannah asked him out. But Hannah said Tyler had been “reaching out,” while she hadn’t heard from Peter.
“You didn’t say anything,” she told him. “I didn’t know you where you were. I knew you were upset and dealing with it, so I didn’t reach out to you. And you didn’t reach out to me. I mean, I thought you wanted to be the Bachelor.”
At that point, neither was sure what to say.
“I don’t know what to do right now,” Peter said. “I’m so confused and this is the first week that this whole thing is starting. And I’m obviously not 100 percent where I thought I was.”
“I can’t help how my heart feels,” he continued to a producer. “I look at her, and I just don’t want to stop looking at her, and I want to just kiss her and just … have had all this work out. And it didn’t, and I know it didn’t. I feel like such a jerk because I have such an awesome group of girls here, expecting to meet someone that was truly ready to have this work for them as well.”
The Bachelor airs Mondays (8 p.m. ET) on ABC.
