The real reason behind why Peter Kraus turned down The Bachelor–three times

Ben Higgins and Ashley Iaconetti’s Almost Famous podcast had a very special guest on this week–Peter Kraus!

Peter Kraus–who remembers him? Like many fans in Bachelor Nation, I have had a longtime love affair withThe Bachelorette’s season 13 contestant Peter Kraus. He’s self aware, hyper-analytical, well-spoken, and more than easy on the eyes. He was also born and raised in the town in which I went to college, Madison, Wisconsin!

I was such a fan of his after season 13 that it was the first time I seriously considered applying for what I hoped would be his season of The Bachelor. Unfortunately, my mother said she would lie down in traffic if I went on the show, so my dream was not realized.

It wouldn’t have mattered, however, because as we all know, Peter Kraus never became the Bachelor. Fans everywhere wondered why the franchise would pass up the most eligible bachelor we had seen in years.

Was it, as many hypothesized, due to Rachel’s comments at “After the Final Rose”? Maybe it was because Peter would be hesitant to end his season with an engagement? Rumors swirled. Thankfully, after coming on Almost Famous, we now have the truth straight from the incredibly attractive horse’s mouth.

After Ashley and Ben warmed Peter up with some banter about his childhood, they got down to business, questioning Peter on his Bachelorette journey and what happened (or didn’t happen) afterwards. In response to why he didn’t become The Bachelor, Peter set rumors to rest. Particularly the one that he demanded too much from producers. He revealed the producers asked him multiple times to be The Bachelor, and were met with a straight up “no” multiple times. Three times to be exact. I haven’t heard of the producers courting someone so seriously since their campaign to win over Emily Maynard!

It seems persistence does pay off, because they finally lured Peter Krause out to Los Angeles for some face to face conversation. However, by that time, he had a new woman in his life and didn’t know if he’d be willing to leave her.

"By that time I was starting to talk to a girl, and had feelings for her. They asked again for a third time, flew me out to L.A.  to talk about it, really, like, straight up. I told them I had started to talk to someone and they said, “Well, are you guys in a relationship?” I said no. They’re like, “Okay, well would you be willing to leave that or exit that?” And I wasn’t sure."

Peter revealed he had very detailed conversations with the producers over potentially accepting the role, including his uncertainty that it would end in an engagement and the potential payment it would take for him to agree.

"Why would I give up, in my thoughts, the rest of my life to be known as Peter the Bachelor and no longer just Peter for the amount of money that isn’t life changing?"

I found this comment from Peter Kraus very interesting and relatable. It’s not often a potential or former lead remarks on the potential downside of fame. Peter is Peter, and wants to be known as himself, not as Peter the Bachelor. It wasn’t about him needing more money, necessarily, it was him being honest as to what it would take to make that sacrifice, and leaving his job, worth it. Respect.

Peter went on to reveal a couple other requests he made in his talks with the show. He asked for more downtime with the girls, more time to see them in the house instead of only seeing them all made up on dates, and most importantly, more one on one time. A lack of one on one time seemed to be the main drawback in his relationship with Rachel, and something he was determined to change on his own potential season. Peter also asked the show for relationship counseling, not only for the last lady standing but for his final four women!

In the end, Peter had to stay true to Peter Kraus, not Peter the Bachelor.

"I didn’t want to be like, “Hey, I’m better than this,” or “This is what I deserve.” I’m just saying, like, I do actually want to fall in love and get married at some point, but I want to, you know, make it under m terms, sort of thing. This is my life. It’s my long term; it’s not just a short term goal for me. I understand that the show can progress my life and my careers in many ways that it probably wouldn’t otherwise, but at the same time, I was confident enough that I could do that on my own under my own hard work, and so I wasn’t going to sacrifice some of my beliefs to be that."

I for one would love to see a season more geared towards what Peter suggested. The show’s editing often shows the contestants staying in the shallow end of the conversational pool, an unfortunate choice that can make their professions of “falling in love” hard to believe. If more one on one time was shown, it stands to reason we’d get much more of the specific moments that make each relationship unique.

Not to mention, if counseling was offered, it would hopefully ward off situations like we’ve had the past few seasons.  Peter’s suggestions for the show were so on point that I’d be okay with him just becoming a consultant for the show if he’ll never accept The Bachelor role!

All in all, Peter’s most in-depth interview since the show was everything I’d hoped it would be. Peter was a class act throughout, offering personal insight not only into himself, but a good hard look at the show itself. In the time of quarantine and the current season being delayed, contestants like Peter remind me why I love this show and why I hope it never stops trying to improve upon itself!

Long live #PeterforBachelor!

Did you want to see Peter Kraus as The Bachelor? Tell us in the comments below!