Pilot Pete May Join ‘Bachelor In Paradise’ After His Kelley Breakup, So Buckle Up

It feels like it's been years since Pilot Pete's, um...memorable season of The Bachelor aired in early 2020. Although the season was filled with drama like Champagne-Gate and Barb Weber's cries to "bring her home," Peter later found love with contestant Kelley Flanagan. Now that they've broken up after eight months of dating, though, there's a good chance that Peter Weber could join Bachelor in Paradise Season 7 seeking a solution for his relationship turbulence.

During an episode of SiriusXM's The Bachelor Recap podcast on Tuesday, Jan. 5, host Julia Cunningham chatted with ABC exec Robert Mills and brought up Peter and Kelley's recent breakup. Cunningham then suggested that "hot commodity" Peter could join the next season of Bachelor in Paradise to get over his ex, and even encounter some of the women from his season there. Mills seemed totally on board with the idea.

"Oh, that's interesting. Wow, I love that idea! Absolutely, yeah," he said. "I wanna say, and I could be wrong here, but I'm almost positive I remember this: there were discussions about [past Bachelor] Chris Soules and some stuff happened. But I like the idea of Peter in Paradise."

Peter going back on a Bachelor show could give him a shot at national TV redemption. Although he was initially a fan favorite when he appeared on Hannah Brown's Bachelorette season and was part of the iconic windmill Fantasy Suite date, he's now best-remembered for his season's notoriously messy ending (where he had a short-lived engagement with Hannah Ann Sluss after frontrunner Madison Prewett suddenly left the show).

However, since Bachelor in Paradise didn't air a season in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic, Mills pointed out that ABC has "a pond that is overstocked" with potential stars for Season 7.

In Nov. 2020, franchise host Chris Harrison promised that the spin-off's return isn't too far away. "Obviously, we didn't shoot last summer, so we are going to have multiple seasons, it's going to be a murderers' row of choices of people," he told Us Weekly.

Another potential Paradise star? Kelley herself. The former contestant told People that she would be down to appear on the show in a Mar. 2020 interview, saying, "Yeah, I'm definitely open to every opportunity that comes my way. Look, I did The Bachelor and I never thought I would be on it."

Hopefully, Peter and Kelley won't end up on the same season of Paradise, but honestly, I wouldn't put it past the Bachelor producers. In the meantime, Season 25 of The Bachelor continues on Mondays at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.