ABC Peter Weber, Hannah Brown
When Hannah Brown appeared during the season premiere of Peter Weber‘s cycle of The Bachelor to return his pilot wings, it was an incredibly bittersweet, albeit heartwarming moment. Watching their reunion confirmed to viewers that Weber was genuinely in love with the former Miss Alabama, that their previous connection wasn’t made-for-TV.
While things didn’t quite work out between Brown and Weber, and for numerous reasons, this gesture brought closure to their journey together. Or, so everyone thought.
Speaking with the 28-year-old Delta pilot during ABC’s Television Critic’s Association winter press tour at the Langham Hotel in Pasadena, Weber exclusively told Heavy that there were some Hannah B. moments that didn’t make it to air during the three-hour premiere. “There was a cool moment of me walking Hannah Brown back to the limo and she gave me words of encouragement, even more than what was shown and it was a really sweet moment… and then she came back.”
And then she came back.
Peter Weber and contestants on Season 24 of ‘The Bachelor’
Brown returned to visit Weber in order to help plan the “Sex Story” group date for a few of his select contestants, which made for a cringe-worthy occasion. But what happened afterward that didn’t just shock viewers, it took Weber by complete surprise.
Brown, who was blindsided by Jed Wyatt after accepting his proposal, and then watched as runner-up Tyler Cameron quickly moved on to date supermodel Gigi Hadid, got choked up while reminiscing about her time in the windmill with Peter. When Peter goes backstage to check in on her and ask what’s wrong, Brown has a complete meltdown.
“That whole conversation wasn’t supposed to happen,” Weber told Heavy. “She was supposed to host the date. That was the plan.” As for watching the emotional scene play out on national TV, “That was tough. Not easy to watch,” Weber admitted. “It was raw and real for us.”
During the aforementioned scene, with mascara running down Brown’s face, she struggled to explain to Peter what exactly was going through her mind, and it seemed a little unfair when she lost her patience with him.
“I don’t know, Peter. I question what I should have done, and, you know, I question a lot.” When Peter asked why she never reached out after things ended with Tyler she said, “I thought you wanted to be The Bachelor” — a dig which seemed unearned since she was the one who let Peter go in the first place. Brown, however, is completely aware of that fact, hence the misplaced anger.
At first, Weber was completely flummoxed. “I don’t know. I feel like that I was not confused, but now I don’t know. I don’t know,” Weber replied. “Um. What the f**k do I do right now? I don’t know what I’m doing.”
In a talking head interview with producers, Weber said of Brown, “I look at her, and I just don’t want to stop looking at her, and I want to just kiss her and just have had all this work out. And it didn’t, and I know it didn’t. I feel like such a jerk because I have such an awesome group of girls here, expecting to meet someone that was truly ready to have this work for them as well.”
Chris Harrison Corroborates Peter’s Story
While it’s easy for producers to surprise their suitor, Harrison also told US Weekly that Hannah B.’s meltdown was not in the cards.
“The conversation you’re witnessing right now was not supposed to happen. That was not ever produced or intended. It’s just something that organically happened and then it scared the hell out of all of us because the show might end,” the perennial show host said. “Monday, people need to be warned that we’re going to pick up right where we left off. It is immediately right back into that riveting, gut-wrenching, I-probably-shouldn’t-be-watching-this-personal-moment moment.”
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