Peter Weber has revealed he thought he was over Hannah Brown going into his The Bachelor season but her surprise visit on Season 24 really rocked his world.
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"That first night [when Hannah stepped] out of the limo, that was a complete surprise to me and wasn't expected at all," Peter told The Hollywood Reporter in an interview.
"I remember when she walked out. At first, I didn't know it was her. And then when I realized who it was, I was just jaw-dropped. I couldn't believe it."
RELATED LINK: PETER WEBER'S 'THE BACHELOR' SEASON 24 CAST OF BACHELORETTES ANNOUNCED BY ABC (PHOTOS)
Peter said when Hannah came walking up to him during the first night of filming Season 24, he had "no idea" why she was at the mansion.
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"I think a little bit of me was hoping she was going to try to come back to the house, or ask if she could join that first night and just see where it goes -- if I'm being completely honest. You guys will have to watch and see what happens after that," Peter shared.
ABC announced last month that in addition to Hannah stepping out of a limo on Night 1, she will later return to host a group date in The Bachelor's three-hour premiere event.
Hannah will announce to the participating nine bachelorettes they must reveal their most memorable sex stories and fantasies in front of a live audience.
"But what happens when Peter discovers a distraught Hannah backstage?" ABC teased in December 2019.
"What she shares with him will leave them both as confused as ever. Do the two of them still have feelings for one another and share the same sizzling passion? Will Hannah join the group of women in the Bachelor mansion and continue to date Peter?"
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Peter insisted to The Reporter that he and Hannah did not have a made-for-TV romance, nor did they intend for their reunion to stir things up amongst Peter's 30 bachelorettes or create more drama.
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELOR' FRANCHISE COUPLES NOW: WHO IS STILL TOGETHER?? (PHOTOS)
"Everything was real. I know people think it's possibly staged or she was told to come back for whatever reasons. I'll give you guys the opportunity to see what happens, but I think the biggest thing is -- that was a really real relationship and true feelings between two people who really cared about each other," Peter said.
"Those were real emotions that I had felt with her on that previous season. I'm just a human. I was just doing my best to move on from that relationship and look forward to the amazing opportunity that I had ahead of me."
Peter finished in third place on Hannah's The Bachelorette season behind runner-up Tyler Cameron and winner Jed Wyatt.
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When asked how "unfinished" his feelings were for Hannah when cameras for The Bachelor began rolling in September 2019, Peter replied, "I thought that I was pretty much completely over her."
"I wouldn't have taken the opportunity to be the Bachelor if I wasn't," Peter shared.
"It wouldn't be fair for me or fair for all of the women that I would end up meeting. I really did think that I was doing good. Some time had passed, obviously not that much, but I had a really good support system with my family and friends."
"I tried my best to close that book and just leave that in the past," he added.
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELOR' COUPLES NOW: WHO DID 'THE BACHELOR' STARS AND THEIR BACHELORETTE PICKS ACTUALLY END UP MARRYING? (PHOTOS)
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But Hannah's "unexpected" appearance on The Bachelor certainly caught Peter off-guard.
"I just try to navigate that as best as possible. Feelings obviously came back. But I guess the short answer is that I thought I was over her at that point, otherwise I wouldn't have taken The Bachelor opportunity," Peter said.
Although Peter didn't win Hannah's heart on The Bachelorette, the pair flirtatiously joked on the Season 15 finale about having made love four times in a windmill during the pilot's overnight Fantasy Suite date in Greece.
"Our relationship definitely meant a lot more than all the physical stuff that everyone talks about with the windmill," Peter noted.
"On stage [during the "sex stories" group date], I wasn't expecting her to bring that up at all."
ABC released a The Bachelor promo late last year that showed Hannah and Peter flirting and getting touchy-feely while sitting side-by-side on a sofa in a quiet room while filming his season.
Peter appeared to nearly kiss Hannah and invite her to become one of his Season 24 bachelorettes during their conversation.
The Bachelor host Chris Harrison recently told Entertainment Tonight that Hannah's appearance on Peter's season was "a thing" and "not just a, 'Hey I'm here to hit you on the shoulder and say good luck,'" type of moment.
"It's more than that," Chris insisted of the pair's televised reunion.
To read complete-season spoilers about Peter's time on The Bachelor and details on what happened -- and what was said, exactly -- during Peter and Hannah's steamy reunion, click here.
RELATED LINK: PETER WEBER'S 'THE BACHELOR' SEASON 24 CAST OF BACHELORETTES ANNOUNCED BY ABC (PHOTOS)
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