Fans of The Bachelor have been teased for MONTHS that the ending of Peter Weber‘s season is unlike anything we’ve ever seen before! Host Chris Harrison has seen just about everything — but he revealed The Bachelor’s 24th season is totally unpredictable. “[The ending] is going to rock your world because it rocked our world,” Chris told HollywoodLife EXCLUSIVELY in January. “Peter and I…it rocked our world, blew us away, rug pulled out from under us, 100 percent.” Fans have speculated that this shock ending could mean Peter ends up with the show’s producer, Julie LaPlaca. Although the theory is based solely on speculation, here are five things we know about the producer who’s making headlines.
1. When asked about the rumor, ABC exec Rob Mills didn’t exactly deny it. “Well, I hate to get in the way of a good rumor, so I’m not going to confirm or deny about whether he ends up with a producer,” Rob told Entertainment Tonight. “I don’t know how we’d ever top that though! But, it is crazy. What we’ve seen about the finale over the years is that the ‘finale’ is really on that night when the show goes live. There’s a lot of craziness, it’s a roller coaster, but I would say even now the roller coaster hasn’t ended, and it won’t end until after After the Final Rose.”
2. Peter and Julie rang in the new year together in New York City. The photo that started it all! Julie took to Instagram on Jan. 2 to share a pic of herself welcoming 2020 in Times Square — and Peter was in the background! Peter’s dad also posted a sweet snap of the family sharing an intimate New Year’s Eve lunch at Carmine’s Italian Restaurant in New York, with Julie cozying up next to Peter. Nevertheless, Peter was in NYC to promote his season of The Bachelor, while Julie accompanied him as a rep for the show… so there’s a good chance that their glitzy New Years Eve celebration was simply business as usual.
3. She has been producing The Bachelor for six years. Julie has been a producer at NZK Productions — the company behind the long-running ABC reality series — since January 2014, according to her LinkedIn profile. Prior to that, she was a producer on The Doctors which airs on CBS.
4. Julie is good pals with former Bachelorette Hannah Brown. It’s clear that the star’s of The Bachelor and The Bachelorette spend a lot of time with producers — so much so, that Hannah Brown and Julie are good friends! The reality TV darling has made multiple appearances on Julie’s Instagram. Most recently, Julie posted a sweet birthday message for Hannah, referring to her as the “Mary Kate to [her] Ashley.” Aw!
5. She graduated from FIT in 2007. Julie is a graduate of the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City, according to her LinkedIn profile, and her Instagram bio. She graduated from the prestigious arts college in 2007 with a degree in advertising and marketing communications, and was part of the Presidential Scholars Honor Program.
Could ABC exec Rob Mills be hinting that the finale might actually be broadcasted live!? Although we have absolutely no idea whether these rumors are true, we’re totally here for the fan theories! The Bachelor airs Mondays at 8:00 p.m. on ABC.