Another seasson finale of The Bachelor is fast approaching, and for the first time in a very long time, the recipient of the final rose has not been revealed.
Usually, by this point, The Bachelor spoilers have made the rounds on social media, and everyone is well aware of how the final episodes unfold.
But this time around, the show’s producers have managed to keep a lid on the outcome.
And there might be a very unusual reason for the added secrecy.
Some fans are convinced that Pilot Pete won’t wind up with Hannah Ann Sluss, Madison Prewett, or Victoria Fuller.
Instead, they think he’ll surprise everyone by going with a shocking fourth option.
Yes, as you’ve likely heard by now there’s a rumor going around that Peter is dating Julie LaPlaca, a Bachelor producer whom he met on set.
At first, the reports seemed unlikely — and frankly, they still do.
But new footage obtained by Page Six is fanning the flames in a big way,
“In the clip — taken Wednesday afternoon around 3 p.m. PT — Weber is seen dancing and sharing a bottle of wine with LaPlaca and his mom, Barbara, at The Stonehaus winery in Westlake Village, Calif., which is located near where Weber lives,” the outlet reports.
There’s a lot of conflicting information here.
The fact that Peter and Julie were hanging out at 3 pm on a weekday points to a business meeting, not a date.
But the fact that they were drinking wine and his mom was there?
That indicates not only a personal relationship, but also a rather serious one.
After all, you generally don’t bring your mom on one of your first dates.
Adding to the speculation is the fact that there’s reason to believe that the person Peter ends up with has a close relationship with his mother.
“Don’t let her go … bring her home to us,” Weber’s mom says of his lady love in a recent preview clip.
Madison Prewett has met Peter’s parents once already, but from working with Weber on both The Bachelor and The Bachelorette, Julie would likely know his family quite well.
Host Chris Harrison also got the rumor mill churning this week with the above photo of himself standing alongside Peter and Julie.
“Soooo, is that the producer that GMA reported Peter ends up with??” commented one fan.
“Is that the producer girflriend in the back?” another asked.
“Is the twist that you and Peter end up together i can take it,” wrote Entertainment Tonight’s Lauren Zima.
Hannah Brown further fueled speculation recently, when she commented, “I approve” on a photo of Julie and Peter from New Year’s Eve.
Sadly, it looks like we have bad news for all you Peter-Julie shippers out there.
ABC exec Rob Mills recently sounded off on the reports, and while he didn’t exactly deny them, he lacks Harrison’s talent for stirring the pot and stringing the audience along.
“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!” Mills said.
“I don’t know how we’d ever top that though! But, it is crazy,” he added, basically confirming that Peter does not end up with Julie.
“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.’”
Okay, so we probably won’t get the wildest twist in Bachelor history.
But take heart drama addicts — Peter is being warned thst Victoria Fuller is even worse than anyone realizes, so there’s definitely more insanity to come!