Trouble Moving On

Bachelorette’s Peter Opens For the first time, runner-up Peter Kraus tells all about his true feelings for Rachel Lindsay

Bachelorette runner-up Peter Kraus exclusively talks to Life & Style about his time on the show — and his feelings for Rachel Lindsay.

Peter Kraus didn’t see it coming. When he stepped out on the live Bachelorette: After the Final Rose special, three months after Rachel Lindsay sent him home and accepted a proposal from Bryan Abasolo, she lashed out. Peter never should have gone on The Bachelorette to begin with, she argued. In a subsequent interview, she said he was manipulative and strung her along all season. In response, the fan favorite, who was booted after he told Rachel he wanted to spend more time with her before he proposed, has kept a low profile, staying quiet about what happened on — and after — the show.

Until now. In an exclusive interview with Life & Style, Peter finally breaks his silence, sharing his true feelings about Rachel and how hard it was for him to film the show. “It was a stressful two months, and then it’s been a stressful three months since then,” he admitted Aug. 12 at a Worth Personal Training Boys & Girls Club event in his hometown of Madison, Wis. Now that the 31-year- old personal trainer has had time to reflect on the rela- tionship, he says his feelings for Rachel, 32, are still strong. “I have love for her, for sure,” he says. “She and I went through a lot. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience.” He’s not “in love with her,” he says, “[ but] I’ll always have love for her, there’s no doubt about that.”

TEARS AND HEARTACHE

That love made doing After the Final Rose a wrenching experience. “I was crying backstage before I came out,” Peter tells Life & Style. “I didn’t want to go onstage. I almost walked off, but [ producers] grabbed me and said, ‘It’ll be OK.’” It barely was. “It’s always good to see her,” he says, but admits that “it was hard sitting next to her.”

To many viewers, it seemed clear that Rachel was in love with him and only picked Bryan, 37, because she wanted a ring immediately. But Peter gives her the benefit of the doubt. “She said that she already had her mind made up, and it was Bryan,” he says. “So I just have to go with what