Spoilers ahead for the January 27 episode of The Bachelor on ABC.
Episodes in the Bachelor franchise are never without drama, but Peter Weber's season of The Bachelor just delivered a one-on-one date so packed with drama that one of the participants has spoken out about feeling duped. Weber and the ladies took a trip to Ohio for their latest adventures looking for love, and Weber chose Victoria Fuller as his date for a day that culminated in a concert by country music star Chase Rice, who also happened to be Fuller's ex, and Rice wasn't happy about it.
Chase Rice appeared on The Bachelor to perform a concert for Peter Weber, whoever he brought on his one-on-one date, and the assembled crowd, not to be a part of the drama, and he had no expectation that he'd be pulled into it as anything other than a performer. Speaking on Fitz in the Morning, Rice said this about knowing Victoria Fuller:
We spent a night together in Charlotte, she's a cool chick, from what I know of her. You know, I got no problem with her. I got no problem with him. You know, I knew she was going on the show. So I told my manager and my publicist, they were like, 'Don't even worry about that. They're not going to do that to you, that's a weird coincidence, but they're not gonna -- there's no way they would do that to you. They've never brought somebody else in like that, surprised the guest on the show.' The fact they did that to me, it's over the top, it's unnecessary, I didn't expect it. But at the end of the day, it happened.
Chase Rice wasn't surprised that Victoria Fuller was on The Bachelor, but he had no idea The Bachelor would plant Peter Weber and Victoria Fuller in front of the crowd at his concert. As fans will recall, the entire scene was supremely awkward as Weber danced and had a grand old time while Fuller tried to put on a brave face and Rice powered through his performance. Rice was actually pretty composed, all things considered. At least he knew Fuller would be on the show!
It's a sign of how incredibly dramatic surprising Chase Rice and Victoria Fuller's reunion really was that even Rice's manager and publicist couldn't imagine The Bachelor setting them up for an awkward meeting. The closest thing to this that I can recall from the Bachelor franchise in recent years was when Bachelor in Paradise brought in Kristian Haggerty to reignite her romance with Demi Burnett shortly after Burnett broke Derek Peth's heart by dumping him.
Still, that was really only uncomfortable for Derek Peth on the show. Chase Rice as the musical guest on the latest episode of The Bachelor was rough for all three people involved. Suffice it to say that Peter Weber probably won't repeat his declaration that Rice could sing at their wedding! Rice summed up his feelings about the whole Victoria Fuller fiasco on The Bachelor pretty simply:
If there's anything I've ever wanted, it's to have nothing to do with the drama of that show.
Well, some drama may have been inevitable once The Bachelor landed one of the ladies' exes as a musical guest, but this was more than any of them deserved, and Peter Weber didn't exactly need more emotional turmoil in the wake of Champagne-Gate and all the Alayah drama that still hasn't ended. Will Chase Rice's awkward reunion with Victoria Fuller be the most dramatic twist from the season? Probably not if that pregnancy speculation turns out to be accurate!
Tune in to ABC on Mondays at 8 p.m. ET for new episodes of The Bachelor in the midseason TV lineup.
