Bachelor Nation alum Peter Kraus reflected on his relationship — or lack thereof — with Bryan Abasolo, nearly eight years after they appeared on Rachel Lindsay’s season of The Bachelorette.
“I [only] knew Bryan … within that show. And during that time, I knew he wasn’t a person that I enjoyed spending time with personally,” Peter, 40, said during the Wednesday, May 14, episode of their “Almost Famous” podcast. “There was nothing against him. He wasn’t the type of guy I wanted to hang out with.”
His honest answer came after Ashley Iaconetti brought up a comment Peter made during his infamous fight with Rachel, 40, on The Bachelorette finale, which aired in August 2017. At the time, Peter told Rachel to “go find someone to have a mediocre life with,” during their breakup.
“I think I felt that I knew in that moment that I could provide a very healthy, happy relationship with this person. Whether that was true or not, I can’t tell you. But in that moment, it’s what I felt,” Peter explained. “The relationship that I had built with her to that point seemed like it would be a lot of fun to be in after that time.”
Peter owned his “very hurtful and inappropriate” comment during Wednesday’s episode.
“I did say those words, which I won’t even repeat because I think they’re really gross,” he said. “And I tried to apologize for it, but that only means so much when it’s in front of millions of people and you’re already hurt and feeling betrayed, I’m sure, by someone who could say that to you.”
Peter was Rachel’s runner-up and Rachel ended up getting engaged to Bryan, 45, whom she married in 2019. After more than four years of marriage, Us Weekly confirmed in January 2024 that they had filed for divorced. Their divorce was finalized one year later.
Ashley, 37, asked Peter about his reaction to Rachel and Bryan’s divorce announcement.
“I was very surprised when I saw that it happened. I was very sad by the fact that so many people were championing the fact that it did happen,” he said, noting that it was “disgusting” and “sad to see” the public’s reaction to their split.
“I figured if they were able to make it through all that hardship that they experienced after the show — because it seemed like so many people turned on them, and there’s so much dramatization of the downfall of their relationship prior to it even not succeeding — I figured if they can make it through that, they can make it through anything,” he added.
