ABC
On Tuesday’s (March 10) Bachelor finale, pilot Peter Weber sat down with famed jewelry designer Neil Lane to choose an engagement ring for the woman who won his heart this season.
The only question is will the woman he wants to propose to accept the Neil Lane ring because things got a little messy during the two-night finale. After Madison Prewett quit the show, Peter was left wondering if Hannah Ann Sluss was the one for him — he was worried that she would be winning by default if he chose her because she was the only one left.
But he decided Hannah Ann was the one, saying things just felt “right and real” between them. After meeting with Lane, Peter ultimately chose a pear-shaped diamond engagement ring.
Here are some fun facts about Lane, who has been designing rings for the Bachelor franchise since Jason Mesnick’s season in 2009.
Neil Lane Doesn’t Even Watch The Bachelor
In a 2019 interview with the New York Times, the jewelry designer revealed that as a general rule, he doesn’t watch the shows for which he designs the rings. “I take a peek,” he said, “But no, I don’t have a Bachelor [watch] party.”
He did say that he believes in love and he tries to keep that “magnificent energy” in mind when designing rings.
“It’s all about the love and affection and sharing that people have. And sometimes it doesn’t work out, with all the pretty finery and the lavish or exotic weddings. It just doesn’t. But for a moment in time, there is a real unity between people, there’s a real magnificent energy that comes out of these people that I’m working with. I focus on that,” said Lane.
He also pointed to one star in particular who helped put him on the map. Back in 2001, Renee Zellweger was looking for jewelry to wear on the Golden Globes red carpet because that was the year she won for Nurse Betty. Lane called Zellweger’s interest a real turning point in his career.
Initially, Lane Turned The Bachelor Down
In a 2016 interview with StyleCaster, Lane revealed that ABC called him “a number of times” to be involved in the early seasons of The Bachelor and Bachelorette, but he doesn’t watch that much TV and didn’t realize how big of a show it was.
“I guess it went on like that for a couple of seasons, and then one time I got a call and they asked me again would I participate, and I still hadn’t really watched it, but one of my assistants said, ‘You know, that’s really a popular show — you might really have fun doing it.’ And so I said yes,” said Lane.
But he went on to say that he’s so glad he said yes because he can hardly imagine not doing it.
“It’s been an incredible journey, like I was meant to do this and I didn’t know it,” said Lane.
The Bachelor, Bachelorette and other spinoffs air Mondays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on ABC.
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