Pilot Pete is flying high.
The then-fledgling reality star quickly became a fan favorite for his sweet demeanor and affable personality.
Therefore, it came as no surprise when he was cast as the Bachelor the following year.
He also revealed if he’d ever have a go at find love on “Bachelor in Paradise.”
I’m impressed too.
[Laughs] I mean, luckily I don’t have to go very far from my bed … Hey, I got you.
I’m committed, so we’re all good.
Let’s start with that.
What was that experience like for you?
Honestly, it was probably the most rewarding experience I’ve had in my entire life, truly.
It was brutal, don’t get me wrong.
Is it true you had only run a few miles prior to this marathon?
[Laughs] That is 100% true.
I do not recommend it.
My knees are killing me right now, but yeah, I had done six miles.
I did that probably like three weeks ago.
Before that, it was like two miles.
And then I did like six.
And I paced myself.
I was feeling okay.
But yeah, I didn’t really have that much time to prepare other than that.
It wasn’t at the top of my mind at all.
Obviously, I’m very passionate about flying.
What was the process like?
Did anything surprise you about book writing?
The process was really cool.
I had a bunch of meetings with my publisher, with my illustrator.
It was really cool kind of just the whole research aspect of it.
The illustrations are incredible in the book.
And obviously, the whole book is factual.
So all that was just super cool to just go back down memory lane.
We’d go over them every couple weeks.
And then they had me get real pictures from growing up and flying.
So it was a really cool, fun process.
It’s something I’ve never really done before.
What did you learn from your experience on the show?
This may come off weird, but I truly feel this way.
What were the best and the hardest parts to see when you watched your season back?
That’s just obviously a part of the show and that comes every week in and week out.
So just having to watch that stuff back, obviously that wasn’t fun.
So just being able to relive those again from the eyes of the camera.
So just being able to see all those cool moments again was pretty cool to have documented.
What were your favorite dates then?
For me,the football datealways really stuck out.
That was just a really fun date out in Cleveland.
Just had a ton of fun.
I’ve always been a big football fan.
Any flying date obviously was really cool to be able to just show my passion.
Some I would say are probably obvious.
Some are a little bit more hidden.
Yeah, for sure, the flying aspects of the show.
What are the worst parts of having a public breakup?
No, no, it’s all good.
I’m stoked, by the way, for Ben.
It’s so cool.
[He’s] getting married here soon, so all the best to him.
So I think just having to adjust to realize that it really doesn’t matter what everyone thinks.
How did you originally get cast in “The Bachelorette”?
[For] “The Bachelorette,” I had been DMed by a producer.
So I had applied years prior, never heard.
And then I applied; I was way too young.
Thank God it didn’t happen then, but I was like 23 or 24 or something.
And then never heard anything for years after.
I saw an interview where you said that you would consider joining “Bachelor in Paradise.”
Is that still the case?
It works don’t get me wrong.
And I think that’s what “Paradise” would offer, so that’s why I said that.
That makes sense to me.
That’s a good point.
I think that “Bachelor in Paradise” is more organic in that way.
No, it’s been cool.
The support in New York is incredible.
Just running the marathon yesterday, that I can’t tell you, it almost gets you emotional.
I didn’t expect that.
That was super cool.
My mom and I watched Matt’s season together.
And actually, my dad watched your season as well with my mom.
Oh, very cool.
Yeah, super excited.
Doing my book launch party coming up here on Saturday, November 13.
It’s amazing to finally see.
I’ve been working on this for about a year and a half.
They’re all coming.
It’s going to be super, super cool.
I’m going to have a bunch of copies to hand out.
It’s cool to have a lot of, obviously, friends that I’ve made through the show.
A lot of “Bachelor” alums are going to be there.
New York’s such a great city because there’s so many of us here.
I know, it’s crazy.
But just recently this happened.
Who have been your favorite guests so far?
Ooh, we’ve had a lot of great guests.
Dustin and I are both in different parts of our life relationship-wise.
He had just gotten into a relationship actually at that point.
So I would say Dr. Darcy, for sure, is one.
Jonathan Mark, he came on, we did a little Halloween special with him.
He’s actually a medium.
Yeah, it’s been fun.
You did write a post about Chris Harrison onInstagram.
What was your experience like with him on the show, and do you still keep in touch?
Yeah, Chris, for sure.
I just saw they got engaged, so that’s super exciting.
Just wish them obviously the best, him and Lauren, for sure.
Does his future girlfriend need to love football?
You’re a huge football fan.
Does your future girlfriend need to like that sport?
[Laughs] Yeah, so I was at a Seahawks game like two weeks ago.
And I got asked a similar question like that.
There’s just no question about that.
So that’s what I’m going to say about that.
I’m asking you this because I don’t know anything about football.
My father’s Italian, so he’s into soccer.
There was never football on in the house.
And I just recently started dating someone who’s very into football.
He’s from New Jersey, but he’s into the Raiders for some reason.
That’s not the point.
And then he promised that he’ll and he did watch a dating show with me of my choosing.
Hey, there you go.
It’s all about trade-offs.
What is your favorite reality TV show of the year?
I’ll just be brutally honest.
Especially in the last year, I’ve just been so focused on my book.
That’s been taking up a lot of time.
Of course, of course.
I really have not put too much time, I think, into reality TV.
But you’re a huge fan of Michelle’s [Young] season.
I heard on the podcast.
I think the world of Michelle.
I think she is absolutely killing it.
Yeah, I am really enjoying her season for sure.
And who’s your favorite celebrity couple of the year?
Favorite celebrity couple, oh boy.
It could also be a Bachelor Nation couple.
I’m going to say my roommate, Dustin Kendrick and Katrina.
Awesome, good answer.What are your future plans?
you’re free to answer it any way you want, relationship-wise, professionally, New York-wise.
I’d love my book to take off, no pun intended with that.
Because I would love to make this a series.
And it’s the first book.
Obviously it follows the story of my love and how I got to where I’m at now.
So that’s all non-fiction, but I would love to make a fictional series moving on.
So would love to continue the series.
I’m flying, doing my dream job right now, loving that.
Honestly, I think this marathon’s going to light a fire under my a** fitness-wise.
I’m really excited to see kind of what my potential is now.
Shoppers will also have the chance to receive a signed copy when they order.
