“Oh Lord, sweet baby Jesus, not Ekin-Su,” Married to Medicine and The Real Housewives of Atlanta star Phaedra Parks famously exclaimed about Love Island UK star Ekin-Su Cülcüloğlu when she was tragically murdered off of The Traitors season 2 after sipping from a poisoned chalice.
While Ekin-Su received very little screen time — getting murdered in episode 4 of the beloved competition series — it looks like she might have had enough time to do what she does best, flirting with former The Bachelorette contestant and The Bachelor lead “Pilot” Peter Weber. While it might not have made it onto our television screens, Survivor star Parvati Shallow teased in a game of “Sip or Spill” with Logo TV that a few of her fellow contestants became more than friends in the castle, with signs post-filming pointing to Ekin-Su and Peter:
“Oh my God, I have to sip on this one. I cannot. There was a little showmance, but it has not been shown… Actually, they have teased another little flirty experience with like another little couple, but there’s a couple that, like, it would be cute if they were together.”
Since their respective stints on the show came to a close, Peter’s mother — the one and only Barbara “Barb” Weber — has been caught commenting on Ekin-Su’s Instagram posts, with the romance rumors coming to a head on February 29. In an Instagram post of her own, Barb shared a snap of her and Ekin-Su — as well as Peter’s sister-in-law, Kristine Weber — seemingly out shopping on Sunset Boulevard.
Given how close the Love Island star has gotten with Peter’s mother, could love be in the air? In exclusive interviews with both Entertainment Weekly and Page Six, Peter dished about these romance rumors. Keep scrolling to see for yourself…
The 32-year-old began by putting the rumors to rest in an exclusive interview with Page Six’s “Virtual Reali-Tea” podcast at DIRECTV’s “Streaming with the Stars” Oscars-viewing party on March 10:
“Ekin-Su is great. Honestly, she became one of my best friends from the show… But she’s a special girl and I can truly say, we’re really good friends. She’s out in London right now filming Big Brother, and one of the most beautiful friendships that came from that show for sure.”
Peter doubled down on this narrative in an exclusive interview with Entertainment Weekly as well:
“Listen, I have all love in the world for Ekin-Su. We had a great relationship on this show and post, but we’re just really good friends. That’s the honest truth of where we’re at. She’s out in London right now. She just entered the Celebrity Big Brother house. Honestly, we’re just really, really good friends. It’s a beautiful friendship that came out of the show.”
Are Peter and Ekin-Su really just friends, or is the former Bachelor just bluffing? It is safe to say that we will be keeping up with both parties on social media until further notice, as well as Barb, for any kind of updates regarding their rumored romance…