What to Expect From Peter Weber’s Season of The Bachelor

The seatbelt sign is on and you should prepare for turbulence. 

The Bachelor returns in just a few days, with Peter Weber in the cockpit, ready for takeoff. You might have to check your carryon and you might be stuck in a middle seat, but don’t worry: in the unlikely event of an emergency, there’s a raft under your seat, and oxygen masks will descend from the ceiling. Make sure you put on your own mask before helping others, and you will get through this. 

If you’re already over the plane references, we got some bad news for you. Starting Monday, we’ll get to watch Pilot Pete date approximately 30 different women in journey to find love, and boarding hasn’t even begun. We’ve got a long way to go, but all signs point towards a season full of drama and some “Bachelor firsts.” 

We’ve gotten previews of the season from both Peter and Chris Harrison, and Chris says we’re in for a “Ben Higgins type.” 

“Very emotional, very sincere, gonna be a fan favorite,” he says. “But like Ben, really compartmentalizes these relationships, and has a tough time figuring out his type and where he wants to go, and that can kind of lead to some issues, as it did for Ben, down the road.” 

Pete won’t be jumping over any fences, but Chris says there are some big “less tangible,” non-building-related moments that might compare, “in an emotional way.” 

“There’s a time when the hat I have to wear is tough love, of kind of being the elder statesmen of like hey, enough, we gotta take some steps here. I don’t want to give too much away, butt here’s an emotional point where this comes to, and I think that’s what this season will really be known for.” 

And in Peter’s words? 

“I would say that my season hopefully is one of the best seasons for people that are truly watching this show for a love story. I think my season is probably one of the greatest seasons to live vicariously through my story, in hopes of having it be one of the greatest love story,” he said. 

While there will be plenty of drama (which he says is good, because that means it’s working), Pete jokes that his big windmill moment is when he gets the new scar on his forehead, which came from a “freak accident.” 

“It was a freak accident, it was crazy, no lesson to be learned from it. It involves a golf cart and glass, and the golf cart wasn’t even moving, and boom, it all happened, pretty traumatic in the moment but ended up being OK,” he says. “I went on a date the very next day, it was all good. Now I got some character.” 

Here’s what else we know: 

There are 30 contestants competing for Peter’s heart on night one, and that number does not include Hannah Brown. Pete’s former windmill sex partner shows up on night one to have a conversation with Peter that Chris Harrison described as “a hurdle that we needed to clear before we moved forward” because the relationship “didn’t have a clean, clear break.” 

Hannah also plays a part in one of the dates, a group date focused on sexual fantasies, and we’ll just say her time on the show might have been underhyped by the promos. (Gotta say, between this, Colton’s fence jump, and Hannah’s sex convo with Luke, the promos have been doing a great job underselling some of the best moments on these shows over the past few years.) 

Not many contestants have made a splash yet, but there’s one woman that Chris Harrison could confirm is a big part of the drama this season: Victoria Fuller. 

“I will say this with Victoria. She’s in the middle of everything, and I mean everything. It’s bizarre. Some of it’s her fault, some of it’s not, and there’s a few of those things this year where people get embroiled in some stuff and I’m like, how did you even get into this? And they’re like, I don’t know,” Chris says. “But there’s a lot of drama surrounding Victoria, and a lot of Bachelor firsts surrounding her. Things that we’ve never had happen to people before happen to her. And again, some of it’s her fault, some of it’s not, but it happens.”

Naturally, after the way last season of The Bachelorette went, this season is likely to get pretty sexy. 

Peter says his biggest focus was being true to himself, and not changing for anyone. 

“I understand that the windmill is part of my story and will forever be part of my story…this season’s about so much more than just that windmill. It’s not even about the windmill,” he said. “This season with the fantasy suites, it’s unique in its own way, and it’s a huge week.” 

“There’s so much more than just sex,” he says, though he knows the women on his season saw him on The Bachelorette and know how comfortable he is talking very openly about the topic. Hit play on the video above to hear more on that topic, or click on any promo for the season to come. 

Now, we’ve got one last thing to discuss before we head into this weekend.

Every recent season, the man/outlet known as Reality Steve has been able to spoil the ending, including who was proposed to and whether the relationship lasted. He’s been wrong a couple of times, but then he’s corrected himself. This time, he doesn’t seem to have a clue, and in an interview with THR, Peter claims it’s going to stay that way. 

“I’m very confident that no one is going to be able to spoil it,” he said. “There’s a reason I believe that, and obviously can’t say it otherwise it gives it away. I’m very confident that Reality Steve and all of these people, they’re not going to find out what happens—there’s no way they’re going to find out. And I’m very excited about that because I think that’s what this show has wanted for a while and I’m excited that for my season there’s a really good chance that happens. And I’m excited for everyone to just come along for the journey and not know what happens at the end, and just be able to live it out with me.” 

That is a bold claim, and there’s a theory floating around that maybe, in a first for the franchise, the finale will play out live. That means Peter hasn’t made a choice yet, and he’s actually getting the time to make the right choice. Maybe it also means Hannah Brown could still be in the mix, in our dreams. 

If that’s really what the show is doing, then it’s genius if you ask us, and about time. Any dirt that comes out while the show is airing can play into Peter’s final decision, and he actually has some time to make an informed, more natural decision than the one he’s usually supposed to make, after two months of barely even dating. 

If that’s not what this means, then we’ve got no idea what this means, but we hope he’s right and the season truly does remain unspoiled, even if it makes our jobs a little harder. 

Hit play on all of the videos above to get the scoop on what’s to come, and join us Monday night for truly one of the wildest premieres we’ve ever seen. We were not prepared, and you might not be either. 

The Bachelor airs Monday at 8 p.m. on ABC. 

Addtional reporting by Alli Rosenbloom