There is so much stuff to get to today, so many things that happened last night, things that I’m hearing now about what went down, I feel like I’m gonna forget stuff. I wrote as much down as I could, but whatever I don’t get to today, I will address in tomorrow’s podcast. I honestly couldn’t believe what we witnessed last night. Been covering this show for 17 years and 37 of their 39 seasons, and honestly, that was the most crazy, insane ending ever. Not the spoiler aspect of it, because you knew that, but how everything played out live, Peter’s parents being absolute buzzkills, and just the total craziness that ensued last night during the live aspect of it. I mean, it would take me 10 pages to literally go over everything we saw last night, but I just don’t feel like doing that. In case you missed it, ABC released 32 of Clare’s guys this morning on the “Bachelorette” Facebook page. I had 19 of them that I posted earlier this morning, but I’ve also added them on pages 4 & 5 today. I’m sure the 13 guys last names I don’t have will be coming to me all throughout the day, so I will add those on social media as we move forward. I’m saving the final “Reader Emails” of the season til next week because there’s too much to go over from last night. Holy shit, lets start with that and what’s happening now.
First I need to start off and say that this was truly the weirdest season I’ve ever dealt with. All season I kept telling you I didn’t have solid confirmation on who Peter was with, and that’s why I never posted anything. You’ll see all the rumors I heard on page 3, but with everything I was hearing all season, I just never felt comfortable running with anything. Last Thursday, I gave what I thought was solid confirmation of how the season ended, and it had some parts right, but a major thing wrong was the Hannah Ann engagement. You can ask til the cows come home how did I not find out that Peter and Hannah Ann got engaged in Australia. And the answer will be the same: I have no idea. Did I hear at some point over the last 3 months he’d chosen Hannah Ann? Yes. But never had any solid proof of it so I never ran with it. Not to mention, 90% of the stuff was that he was with Madison – and I’m talking stuff from early December, which clearly wasn’t the case. I told you within the first week of the season being done filming, that basically “everyone and their mother in Alabama” was telling me Peter was with Madison, which clearly was garbage. I was flooded with info like that. Maybe it was a misinformation campaign. I don’t know, because it was clearly wrong. But I never ran with it anyway.
So then Thursday comes, I post what I did, do a whole podcast about it, and immediately I’m told by people I trust “Steve, you need to look into that. I don’t think that’s right.” Again, I can ask til forever “Why didn’t you inform me of this earlier,” but that’s neither here nor there anymore. I got a hold of the people I needed to get a hold of this weekend, updated the spoilers on Monday, and everything I gave you Monday ended up being true. What Chris Harrison was referring to at the final rose ceremony talking to Peter (which ended up being a giant bag of nothing), who was Barb talking about, Peter and Hannah Ann getting engaged in Australia, them breaking up during the house visit in CA, and then he was currently in a limbo situation with Madison and it wasn’t as strong as I thought. All of it played out like my sources this weekend told me it would. I’m not gonna bother asking why it took so long this season, because I don’t think I’ll ever get an answer. Just know one season has nothing to do with the next.
Which brings us to Peter’s stand all season, which was “Reality Steve isn’t gonna spoil the ending, and there’s a reason for it.” Well #1, I did spoil your season. It might not have been til the day of the final rose ceremony, but it was spoiled. And #2, now that the season has played out, and I look back at Peter’s statement, I still don’t know exactly what this “reason” was. Granted, he ended up being right until this past Monday, but still such a bold claim to make at the beginning of the season when, shit, he left Australia engaged and was engaged when he made that comment to start his season. Maybe Peter will address this when he starts doing media as to what he was referring to, but as of now, I don’t have the faintest idea what he meant when he said that.
You know what’s absolutely f***ing amazing, and once again proves what I’ve told you time and time again, which is you can NEVER take what you see posted on social media as 100% proof of anything. Lets look back on what Madi posted the day after premiere night of her 1-on-1 date with Peter:
She wasn’t even with him, let alone talking to him and she posted that! After she did, you know how many people emailed me saying, “Oh Steve, it’s obvious Madi is with Peter. Who would post that if they weren’t together?” Well she did and they weren’t. At the time.
Then top it all off, on the day of her first 1-on-1 with Peter, Hannah Ann posted this IG pic:
And this was AFTER he’d broken up with her in the CA house and she read him the riot act. We all saw it last night. She was having NONE of his BS. But then she STILL went out and posted this on her IG the day of her first 1-on-1. And you know what people were telling me after she posted that? “Well Steve, it’s obvious Hannah Ann is with him because why would you post that if you were dumped?” So yeah, never, ever, ever again do I want to hear that because a contestant posts something about their season on social media, that they’re giving something away about them winning or losing. Not everything is 100% proof of something when it comes to social media. These contestants are essentially told what to do, and I’m sure Madi and Hannah Ann were told to continue confusing the audience since no spoiler was out yet. But the fact that Hannah Ann posted that pic with THAT caption AFTER their breakup just roughly a week earlier takes some serious balls. Looking back, I can’t believe she did that.
So the next thing I’m sure you’re gonna ask about is the timeline of everything and when it went down. I’ll do the best to tell you what I know. Last night, when Hannah Ann showed up at the CA house for the breakup, Peter said something to the effect of it had been a month since he’d seen her or something? Here’s what I know:
-Peter and Hannah Ann’s breakup happened in the CA house the week of the Super Bowl, so last week of January. Basically before he went to the Super Bowl that weekend that he posted from non stop, he had just ended his engagement to Hannah Ann.
-I posted this picture from Madison and a Bachelor film crew in Alabama on Feb 11th:
Madison currently filming something with production at Town Creek Park in Auburn, Alabama. pic.twitter.com/2MaZQSAjQi
— RealitySteve (@RealitySteve) February 11, 2020
Certainly looks like the same outfit Madi was wearing during her sit down with Chris Harrison, so roughly 2 weeks after his breakup with Hannah Ann is when that conversation with Chris Harrison and Madison took place in Auburn, AL.
-Then we know Madison and Peter had their conversation by the pool in CA sometime after that.
HOWEVER, here is something I can share now that became “official” last night. Remember early on this season so many of you were sending me the “Hey, Madison follows Peter’s friend Courtney who runs ‘Seed to Mountain’ charity and they comment on each others pics all the time. Would she really be friends with her if she wasn’t with Peter?” Well, Courtney had a baby shower on Feb. 1st. That day I was told Madison was in attendance. But nobody had a picture of her physically being there, so I could never run with it. It was just rumor at that point. Until last night. After that shit show went down on the ATFR, Peter’s friend Courtney took up for Madi and posted a pic from that very baby shower which took place on Feb. 1st showing Madison was in attendance:
So piecing things together, just DAYS after Peter ends his engagement to Hannah Ann, Madison is hanging with one of Peter’s best friends at her baby shower. Do we honestly think Peter’s name wasn’t brought up? She knew he’d gotten engaged in Australia? A break up happened? Very sketchy now to believe that when Chris sat down with Madison on Feb. 11th to break “the news” to her, she didn’t already have a clue, if not know everything that had already happened.
justsaying
March 13, 2020 at 7:06 AM
Darn it, as much as I am well aware how they’re not compatible and Peter’s an idiot, I just wish they’d stick together just to stick it to evil Barb.
kabuki
March 13, 2020 at 8:01 AM
Come on, Steve! Where is your post on the break up. I give you credit. You called the break up before this weekend. No way was Peter going to rock the family boat. This whole thing reminded me of the Prince Harry/Meghan Markle fiasco. When a lot of other people warn you about someone, it is wise to listen, otherwise you risk blowing the family apart. Let’s hope the Weber family can heal the rift. After all, Peter still has to share the common areas of his parents’ house with them.
ctrealitygirl
March 13, 2020 at 8:03 AM
I’m leaning toward believing Steve’s theory that Peter & Madi never really were together and that they made it look that way just for the finale. Pete certainly didn’t look like man in love. I really hate that Barb got her way!
kata20
March 13, 2020 at 9:06 AM
So Peter and Madi broke up? Madi was brought in just to save face. Peter’s mother did not have to react the way she did on national TV. She could have kept her mouth shut for few hrs. It was not about her.
For Peter to have a happy ending he needs to move out and away from his controlling family and do some growing up. Good luck finding another woman now since the whole country knows about his family situation.
justsaying
March 13, 2020 at 9:27 AM
@kabuki Say whattt?? Peter is nothing like Harry. Harry is actually in love with Megan and he is protecting his family from the evil press.
Peter will never get another girlfriend with any hint of opinions again with Barb around. Peter is weird. He loses interest on a girl the moment the chase stops. He needs therapy.
mgb970
March 13, 2020 at 12:37 PM
The #TeamBarb people digust me.
Not one thing I’ve seen yet, NOT ONE, of the reasons why they support that despicable woman, is rooted in any kind of fact. It’s just all slurs and attacks on Madi’s character.
Kinda of interesting that a couple of weeks ago we get Rachel on to talk about all the hateful people and then the next week, we get mega-doses of it in Barb.
crushonspivey
March 13, 2020 at 12:48 PM
The Barb supporters are wrong simply because they are condoning her boorish behavior. She could still hold the opinions she did, and have handled it better. That is the issue. She was mean and didn’t need to be. You can express concerns without personal attacks. And damn, her son has issues because of her.
Pete and Madi had no chance, not just because of differences in life choices, but because of a wicked mother who was hell bent on nuking the relationship. Time for Peter to cut the umbilical chord and get to a therapist because he needs to figure out who he is without that horrible and controlling parent telling him how to live.
dogmomma
March 13, 2020 at 2:37 PM
And for all the Barb supporters, I saw where she’s gone to a tabloid magazine and done an interview and continues to bash Madi. And Peter’s brother is also still bashing her. Yet Madi isn’t running and doing interviews bashing the Webers for treating her so horribly. When I read Peter’s Instagram post about their decision not to pursue the relationship, I didn’t take it that they broke up because they were never really a couple. They probably reunited for the ATFR just so that it wouldn’t look so bad for the show.
mgb970
March 13, 2020 at 2:57 PM
@dogmomma
Pete’s bother is a POS. I cannot believe he’s attacker her the way his is. He is definitely his momma’s boy
justsaying
March 14, 2020 at 11:02 AM
@dogmomma, Barb is the typical controlling nightmare. The moment she doesn’t like you, she cuts you off and launches a smear campaign.
dogmomma
March 14, 2020 at 5:41 PM
Yes, she would be any woman’s worst nightmare as a mother-in-law, or is that Monster-in-Law??
She continues to disgust me as she tries to stay relevant in the news. Her behavior is repulsive. Now she’s trying to get Kelly to go out with Peter. All of the girls this season should now be thankful that they don’t have to deal with her.
itsjustafarce
March 14, 2020 at 7:59 PM
“Who does that to their own son?”
Quite possibly a mother who is thoroughly ddisgusted and ashamed by her son’s actions, choices and overall behavior on national television?
While part of me thinks it would have been better to have restrained herself, there is another part which was glad to see Barb both call out Madison for her actions, and Peter and Madison as being a terrible match.
I don’t think Madison is evil incarnate, but I do not buy into her being mature and grounded either. Given her responses and apparent lack of accountability and respect on stage, as well as Barb’s comments that there was more to their interaction which was not aired, the timing of her virginity announcement, her not-an-ultimatum-actual-ultimatum, and her vacillating decisions, Madison came across to me as a prototypical, angst-ridden teenage girl. She has a lot of growing up to do, before she is anywhere near ready for a successful adult relationship.
Lastly, although it certainly could not have helped, I doubt that Peter’s and Madison’s final breakup had much of anything to do with Barb or the rest of his family. Certainly no more so than Madison’s father and family.
With its terrible bachelor, dramatically immature women, and all the transparent tampering by production, this was a terrible season. I thoroughly hated and enjoyed it, and I will never watch again… at least until next season!
PS: Thanks for the spoilers!
dogmomma
March 16, 2020 at 2:16 PM
But Barb could have saved her nasty attitude and comments for when she wasn’t on camera. Honestly, as viewers we don’t get to see the whole picture, so we don’t really know what happened behind the scenes unless we worked in production. It’s unfair to place blame on someone with only a small part of the story. But people are criticizing Barb because we (the viewers) watched her show a really nasty attitude toward a young girl that she clearly hates. That isn’t taking the high road. She should have just grounded Peter for a month after he got home, and maybe made him do extra chores around the house as punishment. She came across as a very bitter woman on TV.