LaPlaca claims she was offered gig amid rumors of her relationship with lead Peter Weber.

Former Bachelor producer Julie LaPlaca recalls sobbing after losing Bachelorette role (exclusive)

LaPlaca claims she was offered gig amid rumors of her relationship with lead Peter Weber.

By Sarah Hearon

July 2, 2026 10:00 a.m. ET

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Keeley Kennahan

- Former *Bachelor* producer Julie LaPlaca has written a book titled *The Love Producer.*

- In *'s* exclusive excerpt, LaPlaca writes about an alleged conversation with ABC execs who were interested in making her the Bachelorette.

- The book also exposes her reported relationship with lead Peter Weber.

According to former *Bachelor* producer Julie LaPlaca's new book, she was nearly the one handing out roses.

LaPlaca, who worked on the dating franchise from 2014 to 2021, claims series creator Mike Fleiss and ABC executive Rob Mills considered making her the lead as rumors swirled about her relationship with season 24 star Peter Weber in 2020. LaPlaca was working as Weber's lead producer when, according to her, things "got complicated and lines became blurred" between them.

"He felt like an immediate best friend," LaPlaca told ** earlier this year. "My job is digging into his heart, getting him to be vulnerable — and I was doing the same. There were moments where I was like, 'Wow, I'm more open with Peter than I was with my boyfriend of five years.' There's this interesting bond that people don't see, the intimacy that the lead producers have with the people they're with."

LaPlaca's upcoming memoir, *The Love Producer*, out Tuesday, July 7, will reveal new alleged details of her emotional and reported physical relationship with Weber. The reality star — who was briefly engaged to the winner of his season, Hannah Ann Sluss, and dated his fifth place contestant, Kelley Flanagan, on and off for years — addressed the book for the first time on Monday.

Julie LaPlaca/Instagram

"I’ve moved on from this period of my life and I’m ultimately responsible for my choices," Weber said, in part, via Instagram. "What I’ll say is this; I asked Julie on multiple occasions to please keep private, intimate details, private. This wasn’t about a tv show anymore."

Below, * *has an exclusive excerpt from chapter 12, “Forever a Bachelorette,” of *The Love Producer, *in which LaPlaca recalls conversations about *The* *Bachelorette* gig. (EW has reached out to Warner Brothers and ABC for comment.)

Excerpt from The Love Producer by Julie LaPlaca

“Julie, it’s Kate. I have Mike on the line for you.”

Before I could process what my coworker said, she was already transferring me. I quickly ran to the backyard of the vacation rental for some privacy.

“Julie, it’s Mike Fleiss! How are you?”

My heart raced. Why was the creator of *The Bachelor* calling me? Mike was someone I had only exchanged small talk in the elevator with. While the rumors were still circulating in the press, they weren’t true. Was I in trouble? I hadn’t done anything wrong. Still, it could look like I had.

“I want you to know we’re loving these rumors!” he said. A wave of relief ran through me.

“So fun, right?!” I exclaimed. Then it happened. He said the words the hopeless romantic in me dreamed of hearing.

“I wanted to know . . . Would you ever consider being the Bachelorette?”

*OMG, OMG, OMG!*

“Yes, absolutely!” I blurted out without hesitation, feeling an electric pulse of energy flow through me as I smiled from ear to ear.

Is that crazy? For a TV producer to want to be the lead of the craziness she devises? Probably, but I’ve always been a little crazy. And as a producer, I know crazy makes great TV. I’d make great television.

“The storyteller in me sees it as the modern-day Cinderella story . . .” Mike said with excitement.

“I couldn’t agree more and would be lying if I said I hadn’t dreamt of the idea myself!” I exclaimed.

We arranged to have a secret meeting when I returned to LA, because my immediate bosses, according to him, were against the idea and didn’t think it would work. But he was the boss of the bosses and loved it.

The day before my meeting, I went to Nordstrom and bought five overpriced dresses, intending to return four. I needed to look the part of the leading lady, and the leading lady does not shop in the discount section. I opted for a floral Reiss dress. As I am notorious for being a terrible returner, the other four dresses are in my closet to this day, which still makes me cringe thinking about how much I paid for them.

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I purchased SiO overnight wrinkle patches for my chest and entire face to wear the night before our meeting (the Instagram ads had found me). My biggest fear was that I was too old to be the Bachelorette. Most leads were in their twenties, and I was thirty-five, with an all-natural, injection-free face, heightening my insecurities. I looked like a silicone sea creature as I went to bed that night, praying I wouldn’t have an adverse reaction to a product I had never used before. Luckily, they did a pretty good job. I then splurged on a blowout from Drybar and had my makeup done professionally for the first time since my sister’s wedding. All dolled up and in an expensive dress, I felt and looked like the Bachelorette!

I met with Mike and Rob at a hole-in-the-wall Mexican restaurant I was way too overdressed for, but that’s what the Bachelorette does, and I was owning it. The meeting went great. I knew what they wanted, and I charmed them with it all. I even let them in on a few secrets, like the fact that I had auditioned for the show thirteen years prior while I was seeing someone. Clearly, I wasn’t ready then, but I was now! One hundred percent single!

“I know I would be the oldest Bachelorette,” I said during the meeting. “I’ve never had any work done on my face, but I’m happy to get Botox before the season starts so I look younger!”

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“No, no, don’t do that. You don’t need it!” they both assured me, giving me a slight confidence boost.

We left the meeting with a plan to meet with the other network executives soon.

It was hard to stay focused at work as I anxiously awaited next steps. Finally, I got a call into the head executive producer’s office. He sat me down. After a long buildup of how they spent hours and hours deliberating, they ultimately determined that I wouldn’t be the Bachelorette. No matter how real and vulnerable I was, no one would believe a producer’s love story. She knows too much of the behind-the-scenes of the show to make it feel authentic.

I couldn’t hold back the tears. I argued he was wrong and that producers deserve love, too, and I was now going to be single forever! When I left Head EP’s office, I went back to my windowless office (after I got promoted in title, I got demoted in office space), shut the door, collapsed on the floor, and completely broke down. I had a full-on sob fest. I was left with racoon eyes from the mascara and dozens of snot-filled tissues surrounding me. I was so sad that I wasn’t the Bachelorette and embarrassed that my bosses knew how sad I was about not being chosen.

Where would I go from here? I clearly wasn’t happy at my job, and I clearly wasn’t happy with my love life, or lack thereof. Now, I also resented my bosses who were obviously the villains of my love story, caring more about keeping a talented supervising producer than they did about my own personal happiness. How dare they!

I wanted to be the protagonist of my love story. If they weren’t going to create the Bachelorette dream for me, maybe I could create it for myself? Like all good seasons past, there was one very important element missing that could possibly give me the clarity I needed: my very own fantasy suite.

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