Peter Weber says he and “Traitors” costar Ekin-Su are 'just really good friends'

The unofficial leader of the Faithfuls also reflects on his decision to turn down the Traitors' recruitment offer.

He may not have found love on The Bachelor, but Peter Weber did find his true reality TV calling — as the leader of the Faithfuls — on this season of The Traitors.

The 32-year-old pilot proved he that he was capable of more than just handing out roses when he masterminded a trap in episode 5 to flush out three suspected Traitors: Dan Gheesling, Parvati Shallow, and CT Tamburello. His plan worked, and Dan went home the following week — but that victory also marked the beginning of Peter's downfall. Did he get too cocky as the leader of the "Peter's Pals" clique? Does he regret turning down the offer to become a Traitor? And what's really going on between him and Ekin-Su? EW asked, and Pilot Pete answered.

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Were you familiar with any of the other contestants when you first arrived at the castle?

PETER WEBER: There were two people that I recognized when we showed up the first day. First one was Maks. I've been a big Dancing with the Stars fan, and I watched him a bunch. And then, I don't really watch the Housewives, but I recognized Phaedra from Housewives. Those were the only two people that I knew at that point.

How would you describe your strategy going into the season?

To be honest, I didn't really have the most set strategy in place. I knew that I could be adaptable and I could switch things up on the fly, so I kind of went in just with an open mind. I guess my strategy in the beginning was to fly under the radar as much as possible until I kind of got my bearings and got a good feel for the game.

And then I realized, "Okay, now is a point when I want to attack and I want to start getting aggressive." I don't think I expected to get as aggressive as quickly as I did. That shocked me. That happened just because of the way the gameplay happened at a certain point and I had to make a move, and then it set my course for the rest of the game. But I think that surprised me that it happened so quickly.

Was there any part of you that was hoping to prove that though you were the Bachelor, you're more than just a pretty face?

Honestly, no. It's so funny seeing comments like that. I guess people thought that I'm very dumb or whatnot. I didn't surprise myself. It's not necessarily easy to go become a pilot and go through all the school and in the training for that. For me, I've always had that confidence in myself and the trust in my intuition and my gut and strategy. So I didn't surprise myself, but I guessed I surprised a lot of people.

Your biggest move in the game was setting the trap for the people you suspected were Traitors — CT, Dan, and Parvati — by feeding them false intel about who had a shield. It worked as a trap, but it did end up putting a big target on you. Looking back, would you have approached that plan differently?

It kind of set my fate in that moment, and I don't regret doing that trap because it did give us so much intel, and I think really set the course for the rest of the game of hunting down the Traitors. I love that it worked. The second Bergie comes in that morning and it was revealed that he had the shield — I'm stoked.

And then at that point I realized my best route to victory here is I have to stay on the offensive. I have to be as aggressive as possible at some points obnoxious as possible because that's my protection. If I keep heat on the Traitors as much as possible, logic would say that it's not the smartest move to go murder [me] the very next day. So I kept finding ways and reasons to point out why these people were Traitors in hopes that they would play it smart as well and not murder me to throw people off. That became my gameplay at that point, and I was committed and I wasn't going to switch it up.

What was the fatal flaw in your game?

I really think that the Traitors set my fate by recruiting me. And I mean that both ways. There were pros and cons to taking it or to denying it. To me, I felt like it made it really, really hard to win the game when they did that to me. I denied it. I didn't want to turn on my team, but another reason was at that point I felt like I was way too obvious of a pick. It was going to be revealed the next morning that there was no murder, which means everyone knows there was a recruitment at that point in the game. I'm the one that's been putting all the heat on everyone. I've been accurate with stuff. Who's the best option for Traitors to recruit? I would say me.

So it didn't make sense for me to accept that even if I wanted to turn on my team, because I felt like then Parvati and Phaedra had so much ammo to go and turn on me the next day. I would've been probably the shortest lived Traitor; they would've turned on me the very next day. If they are able to banish me now, they get so much credibility in the castle. I didn't want to go down that route, and I still thought there was a way to victory as a faithful and staying with the team.

Was there any part of you that considered taking the offer and just keeping up your "I'm a Faithful" façade until the end?

I do think I would had a good chance to win it, but honestly, I think it would have been decided that very next step. Once it was revealed that [there was a recruitment], I think I would've gotten a good sense of which way the castle was going. But I was also like, I don't think this is my last recruitment. I do think once the ultimatum gets played, if I make it that far, I do think I'm the choice for the ultimatum. I was surprised that Phaedra didn't choose me for the ultimatum. I really think she would've won if she had — she could have recruited me immediately, then thrown me under the bus the next day. I was surprised she didn't because I was expecting a second recruitment.

You mentioned that you felt the need to be as aggressive as possible in order to keep the Traitors at bay, which may be why you got a reputation for being a little too cocky. People also chafed at your secret meetings with your "Peter's Pals" clique. In retrospect, do you think you should have toned any of that down?

No. [Laughs] Listen, I was having so much fun. I probably was a little cocky. It was such like an adrenaline rush, and I love competition. It's why I love playing sports; that rush is so incredible. So, those are just true, honest feelings and emotions and I'm not going to hide it and try to make an excuse for it.

In regards to the whole keeping people out of conversations, I've heard a lot of stuff on that. It was tough. You have to make a choice here, right? Because you have such limited time. I talked to Big Brother players after [leaving the show], and I'm like, "Is that not a normal thing to try to have private conversations?" And they're like, "No, it's just so different. You literally have 24-7 to talk. So there's always an opportunity to do that."

For us, after breakfast we have about 45 minutes, maybe a little more to talk. Once that time comes up, producers come in, no gameplay conversations. It's completely done. I could have allowed Phaedra to come in, and we could have talked about the weather outside and just wasted that time instead of actually using it. I knew yeah, this may ruffle some feathers, but I think it's important to get our gameplay set, our course of action set, and you just got to make the choice.

Peter, we see that your fellow Traitors contestant, Ekin-Su, has received the Instagram seal of approval from your mom, Barb. Are you and Ekin-Su dating?

Listen, I have all love in the world for Ekin-Su. We had a great relationship on this show and post, but we're just really good friends. That's the honest truth of where we're at. She's out in London right now; she just entered the Celebrity Big Brother house. Honestly, we're just really, really good friends. It's a beautiful friendship that came out of the show.

Got it. So, if you're single, The Bachelor again?

[Laughs] No, that ship has sailed for me. I don't think I had too much luck with that, so no.

Is there any reality show that you'd like to do next?

Yeah, I've been watching Special Forces, and that to me just looks like the ultimate. I used to want to be a fighter pilot in the Air Force growing up. I didn't go that route, but that seems like the next best thing to really see what I'm made of. Dancing with the Stars would be a dream come true, and I would love to be on Survivor.

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Read the original article on Entertainment Weekly.