Spoilers for "The Bachelor", possible ending spoiler. What do you think? If you're particularly obsessed with Bachelor spoilers and never stop looking for news about the ending (opens in new tab) (me), you may have seen some particularly crazy theories on Reddit this weekend. I haven't seen so many conspiracy theories about Weber's season (opens in new tab) since purely "Game of Thrones," but this one caught me off guard. In essence, the idea is this: Peter Weber is secretly in love (open in new tab) with Julie Laplaca, one of the producers of The Bachelor, with whom he eventually ends up with. (But there are already criticisms and denials of this theory. Let's go down the rabbit hole with me.

Update 2/11: An ABC executive was asked about this rumor and his response (opens in new tab) was very interesting. Let me quote: "Well, I hate to get in the way of a good rumor, so I won't confirm or deny as to whether he will be with a producer. But it's crazy. But it's crazy. What I've seen about the finale over the years is that the "finale" is on the night the show airs live. There is a lot of craziness and it is a roller coaster, but I still believe the roller coaster is not over and will not be over until after the Final Rose. So, the Weber/Laplaca connection has not been confirmed, but it has not been denied either. Hmmm.

Thanks to Redditor Krallie (opens in new tab), we have a very detailed breakdown of why this theory is possible. At the very least, there is circumstantial evidence to suggest that Weber and Laplaca are friends. There is this selfie (though obviously they are both at work):

And Laplaca spent NYE with Weber's family:

Weber is to the left of Laplaca in a tan coat (he was being interviewed, so maybe they were both working after all):

Interestingly, Weber "liked" the post. on the post. There is also a photo of Laplaca wearing a Seahawks hat, Weber's football team (opens in new tab). She comments in Stories that she spends a lot of time with him and his family. And, according to Clary, "In another tagged photo, a girl she follows posts a photo of herself and Peter, tagging Julie. The caption says something like, "A truly unexpected ending." And then there is the fact that Webber, who is "madly in love," is basically not in such a relationship with any of the six women.

The first season of the TV drama UnREAL, helmed by a former Bachelor producer, dealt with a showmance that could have derailed the show, so we can infer from that that producer relationships are not out of the question (for which the contestant actually got kicked off See also Jason Pavelka's season (opens in new tab))

All of the pieces of evidence listed above can also be explained by the fact that Weber and LaPlaca are colleagues, bound together by their time on the show. Producers travel to these various locations with contestants as part of their job:

so it is basically inevitable that they continue to spend time together. Weber tagged Laplaca (open in new tab) at the same NYE event she posted above. As you may remember, Reed is strictly forbidden from posting anything related to the end of the season, even liking, following, or commenting on contestants' posts. So, if the theory is true, it would seem he is making more of an effort to distance himself.

I wonder if there is some sort of contractual language about Reed needing to stick with the contestants for his final choice because, you know, ah, LaPlaca is tied to other Bachelor leads, including Hannah Brown, so all this could just be that she's really into her job.

Of all the people who watch The Bachelor, Steve probably knows the ending better than anyone. (He claims to have received conflicting reports in the past about what happened.) So he blew a lot of bubbles by almost immediately dismissing this theory.

According to Steve, "It's definitely Weber's top two, Madison Prewett and Hannah Ann Sluss. Prewett is the odd-on favorite to win, considering she met his family on their first one-on-one date. But there are some major complications (opens in new tab).

We will update this post as more details become available.

For more celebrity news, beauty and fashion advice, savvy political commentary, fascinating features, and more like this, sign up for the Marie Claire newsletter.

Click here to subscribe (opens in new tab)