Did Peter Weber Fall for a Producer on 'The Bachelor'?

Spoilers for The Bachelor, and potential spoilers for the ending?! I don't know! So, if you're particularly obsessed with Bachelor spoilers (me), and you never fully stop looking for news about the ending (ME), you might have seen a particularly nutty theory making it through Reddit this past weekend. I genuinely haven't seen this many conspiracy theories on Weber's season since Game of Thrones, guys, but this one blew my mind. In short, the thinking is this: Peter Weber secretly fell in love with one of his Bachelor producers, Julie LaPlaca, and THAT'S the person he ends up with in the end. (Insert explode-y face emoji right here.) However—there's already been some criticism and debunking of the theory, so here's what we know and how likely this is. Come down the rabbit-hole with me!

Update, 2/11: An ABC executive was asked about this rumor, and his reply was very interesting. I quote: "Well, I hate to get in the way of a good rumor, so I’m not going to confirm or deny about whether he ends up with a producer! I don’t know how we’d ever top that, though! But it is crazy. What we’ve seen about the finale over the years is that the 'finale' is really on that night when the show goes live. There’s a lot of craziness, it’s a roller coaster, but I would say even now the roller coaster hasn’t ended, and it won’t end until after After the Final Rose." So, no confirmation that there's a relationship between Weber and LaPlaca, but also...no denial? Hmm.

What we know about Weber and LaPlaca.

Thanks to Redditor Krallie, we got a very in-depth breakdown about exactly why this theory would work. There is circumstantial evidence to suggest that Weber and LaPlaca are friends, at least. There's this selfie (clearly both of them are working, though):

And LaPlaca spent NYE with Weber's family:

Here's Weber to LaPlaca's left in the tan coat (he was doing an interview, so again, both of them may have been working):

Interestingly, Weber did "like" that post. There's also a pic with LaPlaca wearing a Seahawks hat, which is Weber's football team. She comments on her Stories about how she spends a bunch of time with him and his family. And, per Krallie, "In another tagged photo, a girl that she follows posted a pic of herself and Peter, but tagged Julie. The caption says something about 'an unexpected ending indeed.'" And there's the fact that "crazy in love" Weber hasn't really had that connection with basically any of his six women? So, yeah.

The first season of TV drama UnREAL, which was helmed by a former Bachelor producer, dealt with a showmance that threatens to derail the show, so we can surmise from that that a producer relationship isn't out of the question (see also Jason Pavelka's season where a contestants actually got kicked off for this very thing).

It could all be very innocent.

All those pieces of evidence listed above could also be explained by Weber and LaPlaca being coworkers who are bonded by their time on the show. Producers travel with the contestants to these various locations as part of their job:

So it's basically inevitable that they're going to continue to spend time together. Weber has tagged LaPlaca at the same NYE event that she posted about above. If you remember, leads are strictly forbidden about posting anything in relation to their season ending—down to liking, following, or commenting on contestants' posts. So it seems like he'd be working harder to distance himself if the theory were true.

I do wonder if there's some kind of contractual language around the lead needing to, you know, just stick to the contestants for his final pick? Oh and LaPlaca has bonded with other Bachelor leads, including Hannah Brown, so all of this might just be her getting really into her job. 

Reality Steve says no.

Of everyone who watches The Bachelor, Steve's probably closer than any of us at knowing the ending. (He's said in the past he's getting conflicting reports about what happened.) So he burst a lot of bubbles by squashing this theory almost immediately. 

Sooo, there you have it? Steve says it's definitely between Weber's top two, Madison Prewett and Hannah Ann Sluss. Prewett's the odd's-on favorite to win, considering she, you know, met his family on their first one-on-one date. There are some major complications, though. 

We'll update when we know more.

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