While Clayton Echard is having a rough time as The Bachelor, he’s certainly not the first.
Memoraby, Peter Weber went from being a windmill legend to something of an infamous clown after his season.
He’s rooting for Clayton. He feels for the guy.
But he also expects to see Clayton walk away from Season 26 empty-handed.
Peter Weber, who was the lead on Season 24, spoke to Us Weekly on the tabloid’s Here For The Right Reasons podcast.
“My prediction is — and I hate to say — that he ends up with no one,” the pilot announced.
“And,” Peter continued, “that it was supposed to be Rachel.”
Peter noted that Rachel Recchia might not respond well to learning that Clayton was “intimate” with another contestant.
“[I think] she loses it,” Peter prognosticated.
“And then who knows if they all walk away,” he mused, “or how it ends.”
“Maybe he walks away,” Peter speculated, “because it was mainly Rachel.”
He quickly added: “I’m hoping that’s not the case.”
“But,” Peter admitted, “that’s how I kind of think it ends.”
Clayton has certainly not shied away from showering Rachel with affection.
He singled her out with multiple group date roses.
He also bestowed upon her a one-on-one date rose. She has a whole bouquet already!
“I’m kind of surprised that he’s been able to give her group date roses so many times,” Peter admitted.
He specified, noting that Clayton has doled out these tokens “like, back-to-back.”
Perhaps thinking back to his own experiences as the lead, Peter commented: “He’s very lucky he was able to do that.”
On Monday, February 14, viewers saw an episode well-suited for Valentine’s Day … even if it of course filmed much earlier.
Susie Evans was a milestone among the cast.
She became the first contestant of the season to confess to Clayton that she is “falling in love” with him.
“If I’m looking at this as just a viewer here,” Peter insisted, possibly covering for a slip.
“I’m like, maybe production now is throwing up a little bit of a Hail Mary with Susie,” he suggested.
Peter added: “They can’t have Rachel separate too much from the pack.”
Peter doesn’t mean that Susie was instructed to make a false claim of love to Clayton.
Rather, he noted that she had extra one-on-one time with the lead.
That extra time means more opportunities to develop feelings … and express them.
“So now, you know, Susie’s gonna come in,” Peter reasoned.
“And,” he admitted, “I don’t think that it’s there with Susie and Clayton as much it is with Rachel and Clayton.”
Peter emphasized that he is not in any way suggesting that Susie would “lie” about her feelings.
Peter explained that he has observed that Rachel seems to be “just pulling away from the pack.”
He expressed: “I do feel like [Susie] feels for him.”
Peter then estimated: “I would say Susie’s, like, the No. 2.”
Given his own experiences as both a lead and a fan, Peter also picked up on clues that, frankly, a lot of us had noticed as well.
“I saw an interview where he was like, ‘Yeah, I fell in love,'” Peter noted.
“And that was very shocking to me,” he explained, “because normally you’re not supposed to say that and give it away.”
“And I think it’s gonna be more of he found himself, a self-love type situation,” Peter suggested.
He detailed: “Like, he learned a lot about himself, and he is really excited about progressing and finding something in the future.”
Admitting that he doesn’t know any more than the rest of us do, Peter simply added: “We will see.”