Spoilers ahead for the January 13 episode of Peter Weber's season of The Bachelor on ABC.
Well, let it not be said that The Bachelor can't generate drama without Hannah Brown in Season 24! The former Bachelorette briefly united the contestants as they all wanted to get her away from Peter Weber, but her early departure meant that it didn't take much to split them apart: a bottle of champagne. The mess started when Kelsey Weier brought a bottle of champagne she'd been saving for a year to share with Peter, but Hannah Ann Sluss popped the bottle during her alone time with him. And it all spiraled from there.
On the one hand, it was hard not to sympathize with Kelsey at the beginning. She was incredibly excited the share the champagne she'd saved with Peter, and she was talking about it with several of the other women. So, when the pop of a champagne bottle echoed while Peter was alone with Hannah Ann, Hannah Ann seemed like the villain. Was it a little dramatic that Kelsey stormed off to sob after seeing Hannah Ann and Peter drinking the champagne together? Sure. But what's an episode of The Bachelor without a little drama?
The plot thickened when Hannah Ann seemed genuinely confused about why Kelsey was so upset, and she claimed she had no idea that the champagne left out by the fireplace was special and belonged to Kelsey. It then turned out that there was another bottle of champagne that had been placed out, and Hannah Ann said that the bottles simply got confused and she and Peter opened the wrong one. Kelsey was still an emotional mess and escalated the fight with Hannah Ann.
By the end of that night, Kelsey had stopped crying and shared some awkward champagne with Peter, and both she and Hannah Ann received roses from Peter to stick around for at least one more round of competition. Still, Kelsey had gone off on Hannah, including calling her a "fake bitch," and the prevailing opinion of many other contestants seemed to be that Kelsey had the right to be upset about the champagne, but she had gone too far and her reaction proved she shouldn't stay.
Then came the final cocktail party of the night. Kelsey and Hannah Ann each took their conflict to Peter. Hannah Ann told Peter that she "was up all night crying" because Kelsey called her names and told her to "fuck off." Hannah Ann said she felt "bullied," and Peter responded by saying that bullying is not okay. He even thanked her for telling him about Kelsey.
And then it was Kelsey's turn. When Peter talked to her about the champagne scandal, she stood by her stance that Hannah Ann knew what she was doing when she popped Kelsey's bottle, then said that Hannah Ann is "trying to play the victim card." According to Kelsey in her chat with Peter, Hannah Ann acts differently with him vs. when he can't see her. If this doesn't remind Peter of what went down with Luke Parker during Hannah Brown's season of The Bachelorette, I would be surprised!
Peter ended the episode not knowing what to do or who to believe, and it's probably safe to say his Bachelor journey may not be going how he imagined. Could Champagne Scandal 2020 (possibly the craziest conflict since the piñata fight on Bachelor in Paradise) have tarnished his feelings toward Kelsey and/or Hannah Ann?
Contestants talking about each other to the lead historically doesn't end well for anybody, and I could see Peter just going for somebody a little less dramatic. Then again, I'm also convinced he's still mostly hung up on Hannah Brown, so pretty much anything can happen.
Bachelor Spoilers: 7 Ways Peter Weber's Mysterious Finale Could End
See what happens next with new episodes of The Bachelor airing Mondays at 8 p.m. ET on ABC in the 2020 winter TV lineup.
