Rumors of a romance between The Bachelor star Peter Weber and his producer, Julie LaPlaca, have been deemed to be bogus. But the idea of the talent dating the crew isn't so far-fetched.
Weber and LaPlaca had sparked dating rumors over the holidays after she shared a photo of her celebrating New Year's Eve with "Pilot Pete," and after his father posted a photo of her out to dinner with the reality star's family.
On Friday, after the drama-filled finale of The Bachelor, Weber's short-lived engagement to contestant Hannah Ann Sluss and subsequent breakup with runner-up Madison Prewett, LaPlaca set the record straight, saying on Instagram, "Yes that was @pilot_pete in the tan jacket, no we didn't kiss at midnight. But whoever ends up as his copilot for life is one lucky lady, because this guy has a heart of gold."
Also this week, Bachelor franchise host Chris Harrison also denied the Weber-LaPlaca romance rumors on Lights Out With David Spade, saying, "We can categorically say that's a big no. Julie is the producer. Nothing there."
But other reality stars have secretly dated their producers. Here are some of them:
The star of The Hills spinoff The City started dating the show producer in 2012, two years after the series ended its run. They married in 2015 and welcomed their first child, son Sonny, in 2017.
Way back in 1998, the real world was rocked by The Real World's secret romance between housemate David and Kira, his casting director who was 10 years older than him. After their relationship came to light in truly dramatic fashion after he spent weeks fooling the production team, delivering one of reality TV's most iconic moments (Who can ever forget David's sobs in the car, yelling "I love you, it kills me!"?), Kira was fired and the couple ultimately split.
"Bear in mind, I was coming from an all-male military school—I really didn't have much contact with women. So to have a woman 10 years my senior show affection to me, I absolutely flipped my lid. I just fell madly in love with her," he later told MTV News. "And with good reason—she's a beautiful, intelligent woman. I'm still friends with Kira; unfortunately, she just happened to be employed by the company that was f--king filming me."
Not only did Siesta Key smash the fourth wall when it was revealed the star revealed her romance with the show's former producer in its third season, but her fellow MTV cast members (including an ex-boyfriend) and her father were even more shocked because of the age difference, with more than 20 years between the couple.
Still, Madisson and Ish, who now appears on the show as her boyfriend, are still going strong, with Madisson telling E! News exclusively, "I get it. It's a big age difference but I would hope that after everyone initially judges it, will come around and see it's a real relationship with real feelings and he is good to me. It's a healthy relationship."
During a recent episode of her E! reality series Very Cavallari, Kristin shocked her former co-stars Heidi Montag and Audrina Patridge by revealing that she secretly dated one of their cameramen on The Hills for months as she faked a romance with Brody Jenner on-screen.
"We dated for a few months and nobody knew," she said. "And I was dating Brody on the show and like, meanwhile, Miguel was, like, filming it."
She then went on to say their relationship was exposed toward the end of their time working together because "paparazzi got us at the airport a week before we wrapped the show. That's how we got caught."
The Teen Mom OG star ended up finding love in a surprising place when she fell for Andrew, a crew member, while filming Marriage Boot Camp: Family Edition with her ex fiancé Matt Baier. While they denied hooking up while the show was filming, WEtv decided to air secret footage that proved otherwise, which featured a producer saying, "We never had a crew member impregnate a boot camper before."
A baby (a boy named James), cheating allegations, an arrest and a messy split later followed.
While it's had its fair share of scandals over the years, Bachelor in Paradise's first true controversy was when The Bachelor and Bachelor Pad star Michelle's secret romance with Ryan, one of the show's audio operators was exposed, with the ABC reality hit hilariously filming a dramatic reenactment of Ryan's decision to jump 25 feet from Michelle's hotel room balcony to avoid being caught by a cast handler, only to end up breaking both of his legs and losing his job.
OK, so this one is a bit of a stretch, but Survivor's Emmy-winning host (and now showrunner) went on to date Julie, a contestant, after her torch was snuffed out on Survivor: Vanuatu in 2004. The two didn't begin their romance until after production on that season ended, revealing their relationship to the world at the end of the live reunion taping.
The couple dated for three years before splitting in 2008. "I definitely fell in love on Survivor," Probst later told USA Today. "For sure. And I wouldn't change a thing about it."
Meanwhile, Weber appears to be enjoying the single life for now; the reality star posted on his Instagram Story on Friday videos of him singing Kygo's "Happy Now."