2019 was a big year for Hannah Brown: The former Bachelorette dated more than two dozen men, got engaged, ended that engagement, and won Dancing With the Stars. But 2020 may prove interesting for Brown, too. The Southern belle who stole America's heart is featured in sneak peeks of her ex Peter Weber's season of The Bachelor, which premieres at 8 p.m. ET on January 6, 2020. In one preview, which was released in tandem with a new trailer that also showed the moment that Brown stepped out of the limo to surprise Weber, we saw Weber asking if maybe Brown would want to join his season. So, uh...what?
Update, 1/13: ABC really left us hanging at the end of episode one, but the outcome remains the same: Brown will not join Weber's season. The episode showed Brown reevaluating the choices she'd made at Bachelorette and being asked by Weber to join the house—and while you'll have to wait until tonight's episode airs to see exactly how it shakes out, Reality Steve has confirmed that this is the last episode we'll see Brown on, at least of this season. (Please go on Bachelor In Paradise, Hannah! I have all my fingers crossed for that one.)
Update, 1/3: In an interview with Access Hollywood, Weber noted that he did not ask Brown to come onto his season, and didn't know she would show up. "She starts coming out of the limo, I realize who it is [and] jaw-drop...Before she came, before that first night, in my mind, I was over Hannah. I wouldn’t have taken this opportunity if I wasn’t." He added: "I saw her that first night...I may have questioned if I was over her."
Update, 12/3: A new press release from ABC about the January 6 premiere of The Bachelor provides some insight into what's actually going on. I quote: "In another huge surprise, Hannah B. hosts the next group date. She explains to the nine enthusiastic women that they will be revealing their most memorable sex stories and fantasies in front of a live audience. But what happens when Peter discovers a distraught Hannah backstage? What she shares with him will leave them both as confused as ever. Do the two of them still have feelings for one another and share the same sizzling passion? Will Hannah join the group of women in the Bachelor mansion and continue to date Peter?"
So...more questions than answers, then!
Original post, 11/26: Obviously, Brown is single—she's done with both of her final two men, given that Jed Wyatt turned out to be in it for distinctly the wrong reasons and Tyler Cameron rebounded from the season by juggling Hannah with Gigi Hadid. In an interview with Marie Claire in the summer, she said: “I am totally okay on my own. I don’t want to have to have a man to feel whole. It’s not that I need that to feel like I have a full life. No, I have a full life. Welcome into my life.”
But now, this! This!
In the video, you can hear Weber say, "What are you doing here?" and Brown saying, "Making decisions for my heart...Because I know there's still something here." Weber returns: "What I'm about to say is extremely crazy. What would you say if I asked you to come be...part of the house?"
Cut to the other girls in the house screaming. Another newly released trailer shows a contestant complaining about how Brown already had her chance, and it's not fair of her to show up:
It wouldn't be totally crazy for Brown to come onto Weber's season—this is Bachelor Nation, where anything goes in the name of love. Remember, this is a show that's broken its pre-set rules before: Nick Viall joined Kaitlyn Bristowe's season after showing up to let her know he wanted to "explore" things, and ended up coming in second place.
Spoilers for The Bachelor ahead. Okay, ya really wanna know? No, Brown does not join Weber's season. Wrote Reality Steve on Twitter: "Hannah WAS NOT a contestant on Peters season. She gets out of the limo to talk to him night 1 (didn’t join the party), & shows up on a date in ep 3 again to talk. Both were in LA. She just took a couple hrs off DWTS to do it."
Also, when Brown was asked about her appearance in the trailer by Entertainment Tonight, she replied: ""I don't know! I've been dancing on Dancing With the Stars!" She also noted of the scene: "It was a memorable moment, I think, for everyone...So, they had to put it in the promo."
It's anyone's guess what happened between them, but it wouldn't be the first time a teaser from the show showed something that just plain did not happen that way (for evidence, see...pretty much every teaser from the show, aside from the fence jump teaser, which really did end up happening). Also, we know who Weber's final contestants are—and Brown isn't one of them.
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Don't be too disappointed, though: This season is already shaping up to be incredibly dramatic, so we'll get our fair share of drama, even without the addition of the former Bachelorette.
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