Many hated it, and a few probably loved it, but no matter how you felt about it personally, there's no denying that Peter Weber's season of The Bachelor was one of the weirdest in the show's history.
And unfortunately for Pilot Pete, the postponement of Clare Crawley's season of The Bachelorette means fans have nothing to distract them from endlessly rehashing his bizarre tenure as Rosemaster General.
These days, Peter is happily dating Kelley Flanagan, and it looks as though the relationship is getting serious.
In fact, there have been rumors that Peter is planning to propose to Kelley.
Obviously, the objective of the Bachelor is an eligible single like Peter finding his future wife among an army of recent college grads who may or may not be there for the sole purpose of boosting their Instagram following (this is what's known as one of "the wrong reasons").
So in that sense, Peter's season was a success.
But these two took a long, twisty path to happiness, and they left a lot of broken hearts along the way.
This week, Peter marked the occasion of their first meeting by posting a tribute to Kelley on his Instagram page.
But the post had the unintended consequence of reviving allegations that the two of them lied to an entire nation abut the origins of their relationship.
Alongside a video of the lovebirds dancing up a storm at his 10-year high school reunion, Peter wrote:
"A year ago today I met this one in a hotel lobby. We danced the night away and then went our separate ways. I truly didn’t know if I’d see her again. This life is beautiful, beautiful. Let’s see what’s next."
Now, we've known from the start that Peter and Kelley met before she was cast on The Bachelor.
The story goes that she was coincidentally staying in the hotel where his reunion was being held; he encouraged her to try out for the show, and the rest is history.
But for many fans, that narrative leaves some unanswered questions:
For starters, did Peter and Kelley hook up that fateful night in Los Angeles?
Based on the video Pete posted, we're gonna say that's a solid "hell yeah."
The alternative is that they got drunk, danced together, hit it off so well that she upended her life to try out for his reality show ... and then they quietly went to their separate rooms at the end of the night.
Now obviously, Peter and Kelley are consenting adults, and if they want to bang and then keep it a secret, that's their prerogative.
But the knowledge of their secret smush session casts Peter's entire season in a different light -- and it might help to explain why the whole thing was so freakin' strange.
Was the fix in from the start?
Did Peter and Kelley know they were gonna end up together from the very beginning?
Is that why she was so oddly self-assured right before he sent her packing?
And if that's the case, why did they drag everyone through that long, torturous process?
The obvious answer is money.
Peter and Kelley were both paid for their time on the show -- 100 grand for just a few months' work, in Peter's case -- and now, they're both raking it in through Cameo and sponsored content posts on Instagram.
Obviously, they would have sacrificed all of that if they announced that they were in love and walked away from the show.
But if they had an arrangement from the very beginning, why did Pete give Kelley the heave-ho before the Hometown Round?
There are several possible explanations there, the most obvious being that Pete was thinking with his little head and wanted to "sample the wares," shall we say, before settling down with Kelley.
It's also possible that Peter and Kelley wanted their charade to seem more believable.
Whatever the case, it seems more and more likely that these two had heart eyes for each other long before their first one-on-one date.
That could be proof that the process works, as these two were able to strengthen their connection, even with the distraction of 29 other contestants.
Or, it could be evidence that this show is as rigged as professional wrestling, and no one is really there for the right reasons.
