Bachelor Nation is on pins and needles right now. Peter Weber has already had a tumultuous search for love on Season 24 of The Bachelor. There have been several rounds of fights between the women, endless confrontations, many baffling decisions, a face-altering injury, one contestant who freaks out every time she and Peter are alone and a small virgin uprising in the form a non-ultimatum ultimatum. One thing we still don't have any clue about is how Peter's season will end, but there are persistent rumors floating around that, in a bold move, our super sexual pilot actually found love with a producer on the show.
We've been hearing all season long that Peter's season will not end in a normal way, and from what's happened so far, that would certainly seem to be the case. With all the nutty stuff that's already gone on, and the difficulty Peter is having choosing between Hannah Ann, Victoria (please, NO) and Madison, the chances that he ends the season with a proposal appears to be pretty slim. This leads us back to the possibility that, off camera, he somehow also fell in love with producer Julie LaPlaca, who's the woman popping up in all those rumors. Could that even be possible?
Peter ending his season without a proposal, but with a girlfriend in The Bachelor producer Julie LaPlaca, would be massive news, which explains why this rumor just won't die. Bachelor franchise host Chris Harrison recently appeared on Access Hollywood to discuss the season, and when asked about Peter and Julie, here's what he said:
We spend a lot of time together; we travel the world together. Julie, an amazing, talented, smart producer that works for us, works on the show. So, she's with Peter and she's with all of us. I'll say this, it's an intimate relationship. You spend that much time together, we all get close. Sometimes those lines get blurred.
Alright, Mr. Harrison! I see what you're trying to do here. You're not fooling anybody! We all know that it's part of Chris Harrison's job to float around and talk about the most recent season of Bachelor madness without giving away any real details that will spoil things, but look at what he just did. In one breath he managed to basically say, "Hey, we're all together all the time. Producers get close to leads and contestants; it's no big deal," and also say, "But, you never knoooooow." How dare you lead us on like that, sir!
As I said earlier, Peter and Julie ending his season as a couple would pretty much rock Bachelor Nation to its core. While there have been plenty of seasons that didn't end in a proposal (like Colton Underwood's 2019 season), or ended in a proposal that was quickly broken off (Hello Hannah Brown!) we've never seen a lead leave the show without finding or rejecting true love on camera.
The whole point right now is for fans who were introduced to Peter's search for love on Hannah's season of The Bachelorette, and saw him come pretty close to getting engaged there, to watch him get his happily ever after. If he ends up with a producer who we never even saw on the show, why did we even watch this season? (OK, fine...we watch for the mystery and the drama. But, you understand my meaning.)
Speaking of this whole off-camera Bachelor romance thing, long-time fans will know that it has happened before, just not with any leads. Season 10 saw one of Jake Pavelka's ladies, Rozlyn Papa, being confronted by Chris Harrison about her relationship with a producer, and then being made to leave the show. Then, of course, there was Season 1 Bachelor in Paradise sound guy, Ryan Putz, who fell for contestant Michelle Kujuwa. He almost got caught in her room and jumped from a second floor balcony to avoid detection...which didn't work, because he broke both of his legs.
Knowing all this, Chris Harrison was asked what exactly the rules of The Bachelor are when it comes to leads and / or contestants getting involved with people who work behind the scenes on the show, and here's what he said:
The only rules are, Peter needs to have the best opportunity to find love, or, whoever the Bachelor or Bachelorette is. If something were to mess that up, then we would try to step in, and we would help.
I don't know about you, but it sounds like there's some wiggle room there for Peter and Julie to get romantical if they really want to. It sounds like the leads finding love is priority one for the Bachelor franchise (which makes sense), so if one of their suitors is fooling around with a producer, etc., they have to leave because then they aren't really available for the lead. But, if the lead is dating all the contestants, and also getting close to someone off-camera, there's a lot more leeway for that to happen, because maybe they'll still find love that way.
Look, I'm not convinced that Peter and Julie will be revealed as a couple at the end of this wackadoo season, but it also sounds like, as far as the show is concerned, it wouldn't be the worst thing. So, let your rumor mill-focused brains keep on turning!
We can see how all this turns out when The Bachelor continues on ABC, Mondays at 8 p.m. EST. For more on what you can watch right now, check out our 2020 premiere guide!
