Peter Weber Swears He and ‘The Traitors’ Co-Star Ekin-Su Aren’t Dating

Of all the players who visited Alan Cumming’s castle for The Traitors Season 2, former Bachelor and United Airlines pilot Peter Weber—aka “Pilot Pete”—might’ve been the most controversial. Some viewers admired Peter’s self-described “all gas, no brakes” gameplay strategy, while others spent weeks hoping the Traitors would kill him off. Last week, the haters finally got their wish during a nail-biting roundtable that sent Peter home over actual Traitor Phaedra Parks. In the end, it all came down to one deciding vote that Shahs of Sunset alum Mercedes “MJ” Javid would later come to regret.

The good news for Peter? His vengeance came down on Phaedra during that same episode last week, when the players finally voted her out after a stunning and downright trrrreacherous run. Speaking with The Daily Beast’s Obsessed, Peter said he was not surprised to have been voted out, even if the decision was disappointing. He also dished on going toe-to-toe with Phaedra, his ongoing friendship with former Parliament member John Bercow, and that tantalizing rumor that he and one of his co-stars, Love Island alum Ekin-Su Cülcüloğlu, might be an item. Read on for all the hot castle gossip.

So first of all, were you surprised that the group voted you out over Phaedra at your final roundtable?

It did hurt. You know, to be voted out by your peers is never a good feeling. I had to hold back emotion. I remember that. And obviously, I would have loved for it to have gone differently.

We just filmed the reunion, and I admire gameplay—like, true, good gameplay—as much as the next person. Some explanations were given as to why things went the way they went. I have to be honest: I understand it. People are trying to win the game. Ultimately, they put themselves first, and so I get it. But yeah, it definitely hurt.

It was so close. The worst part has to be that it was so close.

One-hundred percent. It was, yeah. It was frustrating say at least. But I take comfort in that at I left everything on the table. There was no argument, proof, evidence, or anything that I kept with me at that last roundtable. So, okay, if I put it all out, and they still vote me out? Nothing else I can do at that point.

What is it like going toe-to-toe with Phaedra at the roundtable? It seems like it would be a little terrifying but also a little thrilling.

Yes, both of those. She’s good at what she does. If you can ever avoid getting into a confrontation with her, do it, because there’s a very high likelihood that she’s going to win. She’s really good at not getting flustered.

And she’s so quick. You see her with her witty lines, and they’re hilarious lines, but when you get away from the humor aspect, that really benefits her. Maybe it’s the lawyer in her, or whatever else.

But also, it’s thrilling. It’s almost like, I pinch myself and I pull myself back. Like, wow, I’m in a castle at a roundtable in the middle of Scotland, having a heated discussion with Phaedra Parks from Housewives. This is actually kind of cool.

Did you know who she was coming into this? Did you have a sense of who you were dealing with?

I don’t watch the show, but her and Maks [Maksim Chmerkovskiy, of Dancing with the Stars] were the two people I recognized the first day when I showed up to the castle. I definitely have seen her on TV. I know of her. But I didn’t know, she’s had like five different jobs, right, through all of the companies that she owns? She does everything. So all that stuff, I learned as I played the game.

Euan Cherry/Peacock

Got it. And do you regret not turning Traitor when you had the chance?

I don’t regret it. I will say, I still have the feeling of, ugh, man, it would have been so fun. I would have loved to see what I could have done and the potential I could have had with it. But I don’t regret it. I obviously couldn’t turn on my team. I would have taken it if I had the recruitment when Parvati [Shallow, of Survivor] was recruited, but it was just too far down.

I also thought mainly, just out of strategic gameplay, it didn’t make sense for me to take it. I think I was too obvious of an option at that point. Everyone was going to know at breakfast that there was a recruitment, and it was too easy of a route for the Traitors to then turn on me throw me under the bus to gain credibility in the castle. I just thought, “My best plan here is to stay with the team.”

Obviously, a lot of editing has to happen to make this show fit into hour-long episodes. Were there any pivotal moments or interactions that you wish we’d gotten to see?

I called out Phaedra with the “bloodhound” comment. I think that was really convincing proof of why she had to have been a Traitor—you know, Parvati saying it and then her saying it the very next day. It was a Freudian slip that I thought was really good evidence.

A lot of viewers also don’t know that I actually told everybody about the recruitment letter. I just kept it secret for a certain amount of time to then use it as a card to play when I thought the time was appropriate.

I told my group immediately. Then, later on, when I saw the group getting divided and people feeling ostracized, once I finally felt comfortable being able to trust whoever the person was, I tried to use it as almost like a peace offering. I was like, “Listen, this actually happened to me. I’ve been holding this until I knew I could trust you. I do trust you now, and this is why I’m choosing to tell you.”

Other than that, for the most part, everything, everything made it in.

Got it. And on a more personal note, a lot of fans believe that there’s a “thing” going on between you and your co-star Ekin-Su. MJ said on a podcast that you guys had a cute flirtation going during the season, and your mom recently posted a photo with Ekin-Su that’s got everyone on every reality TV subreddit freaking out. Can you shed some light on what’s going on there?

Yeah, the honest truth: Ekin and I are great friends. We met on the show, didn’t know each other before. It was one of the better, most beautiful friendships I had come from that show we get along very well. We’re very similar, and we’re just really good friends. That’s the honest truth. You know, she’s out in London, and she just, I think, gotten to the house yesterday or two days ago for Big Brother. So yeah, just a great friendship that came from the show is what I can say.

Gotcha, yeah. Can’t blame people for ’shipping it.

No—I, listen, Ekin, I think the world of.

Euan Cherry/Peacock

And have you kept in close contact with anyone else from the show? Are you and John texting on the daily?

John and I are very close. John and my parents, they got along since we had a cast party over at my house after the after the reunion episode. It was just so funny seeing everybody from the show, all different walks of life or different shows—the former speaker of Parliament right in my house.

And so John and I are super close. Bergie, Ekin, Trishelle, Bananas—we definitely have a really, really close knit group, but for the most part, everybody just got along very well. It was cool to be able to have that experience together.

And what reality show would you like to go on next, if you could have your pick?

I have thought about this now. I think it’d be [awesome to do] Special Forces. That would be incredible, to just push myself. Dancing with the Stars—I’ve always been such a dancer. I think that’d be so much fun, to compete in. And then Survivor, that’s like a bucket list item. I’d love to do Survivor one day.

This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity.