Skip to Content

The worst kept secret on television was confirmed as official news on ABC last night.

It’s tragically true, Mike Johnson fans and supporters:

Peter Weber will be the next The Bachelor.

The Hollywood Gossip Logo

This long-awaited announcement was made on the Tuesday night season finale of Bachelor in Paradise.

“It’s still hitting me right now, and I feel so grateful right now just to have this opportunity in front of me,” Weber told Chris Harrison at the end of the reunion special.

He added:

“I feel emotional right now. This is crazy. This is life-changing. I have truly, my entire life, looked forward to finding my girl, and that first person that I cannot wait to spend the rest of my life with…

"I have all the faith in the world that this can work for me, and I know it’s going to.”

Peter Weber is The Bachelor
(ABC)

Weber, of course, advanced to the final three on Hannah Brown’s most recent season of The Bachelorette.

He became well-known and very respected for having slept with the former beauty queen a show record four times while they stayed overnight in a windmill.

He seems perfectly nice and harmless and, yes, white… so it’s no real surprise that executives chose Weber.

Thanks to a bunch of recent The Bachelor spoilers, we all saw this confirmation coming weeks ago, too.

Peter Weber on the Couch
(ABC)

Asked what he learned from his relationship with Brown, the pilot replied on air:

“From night one with that first toast to the very end when I said goodbye to her, she was 100 percent unapologetically herself, and I love that. And that’s something that I definitely want to carry forward with my journey now.”

Sounds like he’s gone to ABC Cliche School and graduated with honors, huh?

Other frontrunners for the job were Brown’s former suitors Mike Johnson and Tyler Cameron, plus Bachelor in Paradise favorite Derek Peth.

Shortly after Weber was announced, social media blew up with reaction to the news.

Not much of it was positive…

Johnson would have been the first-ever black lead on the show if he had been selected.

He does appear to have moved on in amazing manner, but still. Come on, ABC! You had a real shot to make history here.

Right, Rachel Lindsay?

"I think Peter seems like a very nice guy. He seems lovely. This is absolutely nothing against him, but how many Peters have we seen before?" the only-ever black Bacheloerette told ET of the latest casting, adding:

"What season are we on? 24. So, we’ve seen 24 Peters. I’m bored. And it’s nothing personal against him."

The Bachelor Season 14 will premiere on January 6, 2020.

Chime in below and make your voice heard: ARE YOU GLAD PETER WEBER IS THE BACHELOR?

As for the women who will be competing to be his wife?

Or at least his sexual conquests?

Or maybe just to become semi-famous and earn a little money along the way?

Meet the new The Bachelor contestants below!