Bachelor Nation
Could Kelley Flanagan Become Next ‘Bachelorette’ Lead? Peter Weber’s Ex Weighs In
Kelley Flanagan recently went through a messy breakup where she was blindsided after finding out she was cheated on. But now that she’s single, would she be interested in starring on The Bachelorette?
The reality star, who appeared in Peter Weber‘s season of The Bachelor and then dated him on-and-off after the show aired, weighed in on the possibility during an interview on Ben Higgins and Ashley Iaconetti‘s Almost Famous podcast.
Iaconetti was the one who brought up the possibility of Flanagan being the next lead. “Try to find a better candidate than you. I think everybody would love it,” the Bachelor in Paradise alum prompted. However, Flanagan was unsure. “I don’t know. I think I’m a little bit older.”
The hosts pointed out that “people would like” an older lead, but Flanagan was worried that the men who have been cast wouldn’t be in the right age range. “I don’t think it’s ever been done,” she said. “I don’t know. I’m 32. I would need guys that are older. Usually, you see the guys that are 24, 25, but my guys would have to be late 30s, maybe some 40s.”
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The oldest Bachelorette lead was Clare Crawley, who was 39 when she starred on the show in 2020. Rachel Lindsay was 32 during her season.
Iaconetti and Higgins continued to push the idea, but Flanagan settled on: “Actually, yeah. I don’t know. My head has never even gone there.” It seems like she’s starting to come around to the possibility!
In November 2024, Flanagan appeared on the Chicks in the Office podcast and revealed that she’d ended her relationship with Ari Raptis after finding out he cheated on her with multiple women. The two went public with their romance in June 2023, two months after Flanagan and Weber broke up.
The attorney actually met Weber before appearing on his season of The Bachelor. Although they had a connection, the pilot sent Flanagan home ahead of hometown dates. However, after he split from final pick Hannah Ann Sluss, he reconnected with Flanagan. They dated from April 2020 to January 2021, then reconciled in April 2022 before splitting a year later.
“I never regret any relationship, no matter how bad it is,” Flanagan admitted. “I never regret it because there’s always a silver lining of me learning something, throughout all of them. So even the hardest ones and all of that, I won’t regret it.”
