Dean Unglert has revealed why he believes The Bachelorette star Rachel Lindsay doesn't want to see her runner-up, Peter Kraus, as The Bachelor's upcoming Season 22 star.
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"You look at it objectively and it seems like Peter's got the whole package," Dean, 25, told Ben Higgins and Ashley Iaconetti on their new podcast following The Bachelorette's Season 13 finale in which Rachel got engaged to Bryan Abasolo.
"I think that she was just so emotionally attached to Peter and maybe things didn't necessarily end up the way either of them wanted it to."
When Rachel reunited with Peter during the live portion of Monday night's finale, she told the 31-year-old personal trainer and business owner from Wisconsin that this reality dating process just isn't for him.
Rachel suggested Peter needs more time to fall in love with a woman and get engaged, and although she wasn't necessarily talking about his potential role on The Bachelor, her comments were hurting his chances.
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Dean said on The Ben and Ashley I: Almost Famous Podcast that Rachel "isn't ready to see Peter thrust back into the spotlight like that" given her strong connection to him. "Obviously we have no idea what's going through Rachel's head, but it makes sense from a viewer's perspective."
Rachel appeared absolutely heartbroken on The Bachelorette when Peter admitted his heart was not ready to propose marriage after she had made it known she wasn't going to leave the show with just a boyfriend. Rachel was frustrated that Peter wouldn't take a risk and commit to her despite his professions of love.
Because of Peter's hesitation to pop the question -- although he considered making a "sacrifice" for Rachel and just doing it, in order to not lose her -- Rachel suggested The Bachelor would not be the right fit for him.
Instead, Rachel has thrown out random names when asked whom she'd like to see as the next Bachelor -- including Alex Bordyukov, who got eliminated from her season fairly early on.
"She's trying to throw everyone off" because of her feelings for Peter, according to Dean. "I mean, obviously she was close with Alex, but I don't think the emotions were quite as strong with him as they were with the last two guys she had."
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During a Tuesday conference call with reporters, Rachel also said her second runner-up Eric Bigger would make a good Bachelor, but he wouldn't be her first choice.
When Ashley asked Dean if he thinks Rachel's reasoning comes from a place of jealousy, he replied, "I've had my jealous moments as well, so it's really hard to say."
"But she was so close to Bryan and Peter and Eric obviously too," he continued. "I definitely understand that she doesn't want to relive any of their romantic moments within an entire season."
In fact, Rachel, a 32-year-old attorney from Dallas, admitted to Entertainment Tonight in July that she's protective of her Final 4 bachelors, which included Dean, who got sent home after Rachel met his family in Colorado.
"[I'm] slightly possessive over the men that were on my season," Rachel confessed at the time. "All my Top 4 would [be great], but I don't want to see any of them as the next Bachelor! Let's pick someone from [JoJo Fletcher]'s season."
About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski