'I'm always going to have amazing memories with Hannah.'
Peter Weber still has lots of love for Hannah Brown!
The newly anointed Bachelor stops by The Ellen DeGeneres Show on Wednesday, where reveals how he'd feel if Brown, who's currently competing on Dancing With the Stars, showed up as a contestant on his season of the show.
"I fell in love with her and I've been moving on. I don't know if I'll completely lose all that love in my heart for her, and I kinda hope that I don't, 'cause that'll show me what I had was true, it was real," the 28-year-old pilot says. "But I'm ready to move on and I'm ready to find my girl and I'm very hopeful that this is gonna work out."
As for how he's felt since his breakup with Brown, Weber said that their reunion on the "After the Final Rose" special was positive stop toward closure.
"I was kinda looking forward to that time 'cause as you watch back the show, you're reliving it again. As you're trying to move on, if it didn't work out, it kinda brings all those feelings back again. So I was excited just to finally get some closure. You know, close that book and move on," he says of their post-split chat. "But I'm always going to have amazing memories with Hannah. She means a ton to me. But I'm ready for this next journey."
Despite his closure, Weber told Good Morning America that he does think Brown made the wrong choice by selecting Jed Wyatt as her final suitor over both himself and her runner-up, Tyler Cameron.
"Tyler and I, we probably would've both said the same answer, that we thought that, you know, she should've picked us," he told the morning show. "The relationship I thought Hannah and I had I thought was very strong. You know, I was very confident in it and I thought there was a future there."
Even with the way their relationship ended, Weber told GMA that he respects that Brown "did such an amazing job of just being her 100 percent true self. That raw self from literally night one till when I said bye to her."
When ET's Lauren Zima caught with Brown, she said that she's "really happy" for the franchise's newest lead.
"I had real feelings for him and I know he had real feelings for me, but ultimately when you care for somebody you want them to find their happiness," she said. "So I think he is going to be a great Bachelor and is going to make all those girls really, really happy and have a really great experience."
On Ellen, Weber also reveals that he found out about his exciting new gig "a couple of weeks ago" and couldn't be more excited to start this new chapter of his love story.
"They called me and they asked, 'Hey Peter, is anyone with you?' And I said, 'No, I'm all good.' And he was kinda being a little sketchy on the phone and I was like, 'Ah shoot. It's gonna be a no,'" he recalls. "And he does a pause and he goes, 'We want you to be our next Bachelor.' And I just lost my mind. I just started going crazy."
"But the funny part was, I had to fly a red eye that night for my job and I was like, 'I gotta bring this down again. Like, I gotta focus.' But I was wired for that entire flight. It was crazy. And I [couldn't] tell anyone. It's my secret, you know?" he continues. "... I'm just ready to immerse myself in this journey and hopefully come out with a fiance at the end."
He echoed that sentiment on GMA, sharing that he can't wait to show more sides of himself during his season.
"I'm very far from perfect. And I am looking forward for this journey to start and to show the girls that," he said. "You're gonna get the good, the bad and the ugly. This pilot's got some edge. I'm not gonna lie."
As for that intangible perfect woman, Weber said that, in addition to sharing his love of flying, he's simply looking for a best friend.
"It sounds cliche, but that girl is my best friend. And, you know, you can wake up every single morning and just, makeup on, no makeup, you are just so madly in love with her. And you can't believe that you were lucky enough to find her and spend the rest of your life with her," he said of his future wife. "The girl that is as thirsty for adventure as I am and just constantly exploring and is never going to lose that. A girl that family is extremely important to her. Because for me, coming from such a close family, that's my rock."
When it comes to advice for the ladies, Weber was quick to encourage them to open up and promised them the same in return.
"I waited a little too long to fully open up my heart to her and show that vulnerable side," he said of his time with Brown. "And if I could encourage the women not to do that I probably would. Don't wait too long. If you're feeling it for me, I wanna know and I'm gonna give it right back."
The Bachelor will air next January on ABC. See more in the video below, and join ET's Bachelor Nation Facebook group here.
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