Peter Weber Says This Season’s Bachelor Finale Is the Worst Thing He’s Ever Gone Through

As per usual, Chris Harrison teased at the beginning of Peter Weber's season of The Bachelor (which premiered January 6) that it was going to be unlike anything we've ever seen. But this time I actually believe him.

Within the first minute of the episode, we see Weber in what looks like an engagement/finale-type situation when Harrison says to him, "There's something I just found out. All of us just found out. I'm not sure how all this ends, so I just wanted to give you a heads-up." Peter looks like he's just had the wind knocked out of his sails, which is all but confirmed when we later see him talking to producers as he moans this is "the last thing I needed to hear."

What "this" is remains a mystery. Does Hannah Brown decide she wants to celebrate her Dancing With the Stars victory by rekindling things with Peter? (For what it's worth, DWTS wraps the same week the Bachelor finale usually films.) Does another contestant—and Peter's potential final choice—have an ex we don't know about? A double life? Or is ABC just toying with our emotions to get us even more invested?

With so many questions, we sat down with Peter Weber himself at the Television Critics Association winter press tour to find out what's really going on—and why it ranks much worse than what he went through on The Bachelorette.

Glamour: The first two minutes of Monday's premiere were quite the introduction to your season. It appears Chris Harrison is telling you some pretty major news right before a possible proposal. But sometimes the show teases things that turn out not to be a big deal. Is this one of those times, or will that moment be paid off in a big way at the end?

Peter Weber: One hundred percent, without a doubt. No doubt. There’s nothing about that moment being overproduced at all, and I keep telling people that last week was the hardest week of my life, and it didn’t stop until the very end. That’s not like an "Oh, let’s tease this and have it be an ‘Eh? That’s all?’" No. It’s not overproduced at all. I promise you.

How does it compare to when Hannah shocked you and sent you home on The Bachelorette?

I have not been asked that. The Bachelorette [elimination], obviously, was horrible and that was heartbreaking, but this one is [is the hardest week of my life] for different reasons. This one was a lot harder for me.

We also saw a clip of your mom in tears, begging you not to let a woman go. When will we find out who your mom is referring to?

Um, I don’t want to...there’s a lot of stuff that transpires to get my mom to that point. Obviously, she’s very emotional in that moment, and my mom has my best interest at heart, and it was a very, very emotional day. I guess you guys can kind of surmise when that will be, at what part of the journey, but it was tough.

ABC executive Rob Mills told Variety that one of your hometown dates is unlike any hometown date we’ve ever seen on the show. As a fan of the show who's watched plenty of those hometown dates, would you say that’s true?

Yeah. Every season I’ve seen, I’ve never seen what happens on this hometown happen. I don’t think it’s ever been seen before. It’s a huge zigzag; it may confuse some people. Listen, I’m not perfect, and I make mistakes throughout this, and I’m not saying there’s mistakes on that one, but there’s a lot of back-and-forth, and that hometown is pretty crazy.

Let's get back to this week's premiere. For goodness' sakes, why wasn't there a box of tissues for you to give Hannah?

I don’t know! And I feel bad I didn’t get to wipe [off the mascara running down her face]! I should have done a better job. From my angle, I was kind of more...well, no, that’s an excuse. I should have done a better job. That was my bad! And she had no idea. I’m the only one who could have told her. I feel kind of bad about that.

In hindsight are you glad she came back, or do you kind of wish she hadn’t given how hard it was on you?

I asked her questions I didn't know the answers to, so if she never would have came back, I wouldn’t have known the answers. You’ll see what happens going forward, but I feel like everything happened for a reason, and I’m not mad the way it happened.

If she would have said that she wanted to give things with you another shot before you went on The Bachelor, would you have said yes, or would you have said, "No, I need to give The Bachelor a try"?

Well, this may be an unpopular opinion, but I would have said, yes, I need to give this opportunity a try with Hannah. That’s just my honest answer from the heart.

Is there anything you didn’t know when you watched the premiere last Monday? Any surprises you weren't previously aware of?

I don’t think I realized how funny Victoria F. was! Just from her comments in the interviews, that girl is hysterical. But other than that, I don’t think there was anything insane that I didn’t know of. It's just cool to see, because you’re not in the house, you’re not in the mansion. It’s kind of cool to see the girls and how they interact together.

Did you know how they reacted to Hannah being there?

Well, I had an idea, but again, I didn’t know she was coming that first night. I was just as surprised as they were. I was really grateful they were so understanding when I went in to talk to them and explain why, but when she came back during the group date, I knew that was going to be awkward and uncomfortable. They reacted how I would if I were in their shoes, so I wasn’t mad about that. But it’s kind of cool for the first time to see the girls interact when I’m not there.

Looking back, what would you have told yourself heading into that first night as the Bachelor?

I want to say, Guard your heart more, but then I don’t, because I don’t regret that. That’s just who I am, and I’m someone that wears it on my sleeve. I don’t know if I would do anything different, but if I had to say something, maybe it would be that.

You haven’t said if you’re engaged, but are you happy with how things turned out?

Yes. I can say I’m happy. I couldn’t have expected it to work the way it did, but I’m happy with where I’m at right now.

Is there still more to come, as we’ve seen the last few seasons? I mean, things haven’t really ended just because the finale has been filmed.

[Laughs.] You guys will have to tune in to find out! That’s all I can give you! I want to tell you so bad, but I can’t!

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

Jessica Radloff is the Glamour West Coast editor. You can follow her on Instagram here.

Originally Appeared on Glamour