Get ready for a lot of flying puns and metaphors, because pilot Peter Weber is the 2020 Bachelor. The decision was announced during the Bachelor in Paradise season 6 reunion, ending months of speculation over who would get that top spot as Man Choosing From 30-Something-Odd Women On National Television.
Even though Peter wasn't officially made the Bachelor until today, it wasn't that hard to see this one coming. Many of the other contestants took themselves out of the running by publicly dating (or reportedly dating) celebs after the show. Hannah Brown's runner-up Tyler Cameron was a strong contender following Hannah's season. But then he struck up a relationship with model Gigi Hadid. The two have grown very close in the months since Hannah's season ended. Tyler even accompanied Hadid to her grandmother's funeral in early September.
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Tyler's relationship with Hadid comes after he also reportedly spent some post-show time with Hannah. Bachelor host Chris Harrison told Entertainment Tonight in early August that Tyler's dating behavior post-show probably ruled him out for the next Bachelor. "If Tyler is bouncing around from girl to girl and loving the life and enjoying the limelight, which, by the way, good on him. That’s fine. If that’s what you want to do right now, I don’t blame him," Harrison said at the time. "He's probably enjoying life really, really well — but that’s not someone we're going to want to have as our Bachelor ... if that’s where he is in his life, then he’s not the guy for us."
Tyler is not the only Bachelor contender from Hannah's season who ended up reportedly dating a celebrity after the show. Many people wanted Mike Johnson to be the next Bachelor. And after his stint on Bachelor in Paradise ended without him finding love, that only made fans wish harder for him to get another chance. But Mike may be getting that chance with an A-lister instead.
Singer Demi Lovato expressed interest in Mike when he was initially eliminated from Hannah's season. At the time, according to Us Weekly, she wrote on Instagram, "IM RIGHT HERE MIKE I'M RIGHT HERE BOO MY MOM ALREADY LOVES YOU TOO." Us Weekly reported that Mike was also interested in Lovato. "I’m flirting with her too. Tell her, 'What’s up, baby?' I would definitely take her out for an initial date, yeah," Mike said. "100 percent not scared about it at all. I would be like, 'Oh my God! Girl, come here.'"
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That was several months ago now, but reports have recently come out to suggest that they may have started talking. People magazine cited an anonymous source in mid-September as saying that the duo was "having fun and getting to know each other." The source further claimed, "They've been talking privately for a bit and hanging out." Refinery29 reached out to Mike and Lovato's representation for comment, but has not yet heard back. However, if those rumors are true, it would explain why ABC didn't choose Mike to be on the show.
Enter Peter. He was the third place finisher on Hannah's season and had his heart broken by her too. Many Bachelor Nation fans were rooting for him to be the next Bachelor to get his own shot at finding love and perhaps recreating the, um, connection he and Hannah formed in a windmill. Side note: If windmills aren't somehow a theme when the new season premieres, ABC will have made a big mistake. Huge.
Of course his nickname as Pilot Pete could be a handy theme too: Peter is actually the second pilot to be the Bachelor. Jake Pavelka headed up season 14, which bore a subtitle (yeah! really!): The Bachelor: On the Wings of Love. Here's hoping the tagline for Peter's season isn't quite that cheesy, but this is The Bachelor, so no promises.