There’s been no shortage of drama among the men on ABC’s The Bachelorette this season.
Over the past few weeks, Charity Lawson’s suitors have been seen having meltdowns, walking out, making surprising returns and dropping shocking confessions. But on Monday night, during the Men Tell All special, viewers learned that some of the biggest drama actually happened off-scene. And it didn’t involve Lawson at all.
Instead, there was a secret scandal featuring one contestant fans barely got to know and some organized (and surprisingly petty) behavior from the other guys—and the letters F and P.
Pilot Pete
The incident might have remained under-the-radar forever had host Jesse Palmer not turned his attention to Peter Cappio just minutes into the special.
If that name doesn’t ring a bell, it’s understandable. Cappio, a 33-year-old pilot from New York, was a blink-and-you’d-miss-him element of the love match series who said both hello and goodbye to Lawson in the first episode. In fact, most of what there is to know about him comes from his Bachelorette bio, rather than his appearance on the show.
“Peter is ready to find his co-pilot,” the blurb about him reads. “This commercial aviator has traveled the world with his dream job but still hasn’t found the love of his life. Peter describes himself as ‘the life of the party’ and hopes his future wife can match his positive energy. Peter considers himself a man of faith and truly believes that his future wife is out there.”
Other details include that he’s “addicted to Chapstick,” “never loses Mario Kart” and “loves to play pickleball.”
Oh, and as far as his fellow contestants are concerned, he’s also a jerk.
FP
Palmer asked Cappio to “shed some light about” how he learned that last detail, at which point Cappio explained that it all started after filming wrapped for the season and the men had a Zoom call together before sharing their respective headshots on social media.
“Long story short, 15 or 16 of the guys, at the end of their headshots, put the initials ‘FP’ after their posts,” he said. “Brayden [Bowers] was actually man enough to come to me and tell me what it meant, and what it meant was ‘f— Peter.’”
Cappio found it confusing and upsetting.
“I didn’t know any of these guys,” he continued. “I met them for two minutes, maybe some five minutes, and to have people put this online for the world to see really affected me.”
Examples of the “FP” posts flashed across the screen in since-edited Instagram posts from Sean McLaughlin and Aaron Bryant.
“I had no idea I was rubbing people the wrong way,” Cappio added. “Why would you put that online? I’ve never done anything to you personally.”
Why?
The “FP” sign-off seemed juvenile and cruel, like something a group of popular-but-mean kids might write in the yearbook of an unwitting outcast. And when the other men offered up why they did it, well, it still seemed that way
“Because you are a bitch,” Aaron Schwartzman said bluntly. “That is what you are.”
John Buresh sounded less harsh, but no more reasonable, when revealing his problem with Cappio.
“The very first night, you sit down next to me,” he recalled. “You look at the camera and look at me and look at the camera and you open your body up, make sure the camera is getting you at the right angle, and you go, ‘So who do you think is here for the wrong reasons?’ And I’m like, ‘I don’t know. You maybe?’”
For the record, “Who do you think is here for the wrong reasons?” has been uttered on various installments of Bachelor Nation shows too many times to count.
Schwartman also complained that Cappio asked about “endorsement deals” and mentioned wanting to make a t-shirt during their Zoom call.
“And monetize it!” Caleb Balgaard shouted, as if he was dealing the ultimate blow.
But Cappio never made any shirts, and given how many former contestants are now living the endorsement-deal life as influencers on social media, that isn’t even a surprising goal.
Sorry, P
Only one of the men apologized for participating in the “FP” business, and that was the recently ousted Xavier Bonner.
“I’m sorry for putting that on my page,” he told Cappio before shaking his hand. “I thought it was an inside joke, and it was wrong.”
But he also seemed to think Bowers was a bigger problem for telling Cappio about it.
“Nobody would have known it was against Peter if this guy hadn’t shared it,” Bonner added.
As for host Palmer, he sat back and smiled after getting all the details, noting, “I told you I wanted the tea, and alas, my cup runneth over.”
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