The Bachelor’s Peter Weber and Madison Prewett have decided to split up after an explosive season finale on Tuesday night. Madison confirmed the news on Instagram via a lengthy caption on a photo of her and Peter from the show’s last episode.
“As Peter and I have decided to go our separate ways, I am confident that we will both move in the direction of our purpose and never forget that God has a plan in all things,” she wrote.
“I will always love and respect him. I am convinced our paths were meant to cross and we are both better because they did.”
The Auburn, Alabama native added that she was thankful for the opportunity to find love on the long-running reality show. She claimed to have grown stronger because of it and expressed gratitude for the women she had met during the process. She called Peter an “amazing guy” and declared that she’d continue to be his biggest fan.
The post racked up more than 120,000 views within the first 20 minutes after it was posted and more than 8,000 Instagram users have commented on it thus far. In the comments section, Madison received lots of support from fans, and some of those kind words came from her fellow castmates.
“We love you so so much Madi,” wrote Alaya Benavidez. “You’re an angel.”
Contestants from past seasons of The Bachelor also commented on the post.
“Let your light shine,” wrote Raven Nicole Gates who competed for Nick Viall’s heart in Season 21. “Don’t let anyone put it out!????
Peter, who also confirmed the news via a post on his Instagram page, commented as well, opting to leave a red heart emoji under her photo.
But Madison’s not-so-famous fans commented too, with some placing the blame for the breakup on the shoulders of Peter’s mother, Barbara Weber.
“Barb ruined everything,” one Instagram user commented.
The comments stem from the Weber matriarch’s statements about Madison and Peter’s relationship during the live finale of the show. When asked to give her opinion on their rekindled romance, Barb indicated that she preferred Peter’s first choice, Hannah Ann Sluss, because she felt that her declarations of love for Peter had been more genuine. Barbara implied that Madison had not given her entire heart to the Delta Air Lines pilot and that Hannah Ann had done so. She also expressed disapproval about the Weber family allegedly having to wait three hours to meet Madison in Australia because of her reluctance to talk to them.
A tearful breakup between Madison and Peter followed that meeting in Australia. Two days later, he proposed to Hannah Ann without sharing all the details about self-exit. However, Peter and Hannah’s relationship also fell apart before the finale when he confessed that he couldn’t be entirely devoted to the fashion model because of his feelings for Madison.
Madison returned for the live finale after an intervention from the show’s host, Chris Harrison, and professed a deep love for Peter. But, based on the news of their breakup, it appears that the two decided that the relationship couldn’t withstand the obstacles they were up against.