The big drama that dominated the start of Peter Weber’s season of The Bachelor was former The Bachelorette Hannah Brown’s emotional return, but one Bachelor alum doesn’t think it was her decision. In a recent interview, Melissa Rycroft posited that while Brown’s emotions were real, her appearance was largely driven by producers.

Former Bachelor Nation leads and popular contestants returning to the show to facilitate a date is a common occurrence, but Brown’s appearance on Weber’s premiere episode quickly went off the rails. The former Bachelorette broke down into tears while hosting a group date and confessed to Weber that she didn’t know if she made the right decision when she sent him home during her season. The confession had a big impact on Weber, who also admitted that he still had feelings for his former flame. He even asked Brown to join the house and give their relationship one more try. Although Brown and Weber had difficulty separating from one another, they eventually agreed that rekindling their relationship wasn’t in their best interest. Brown left and Weber spent the rest of the episode reaffirming his commitment to the women on his season.

While Brown and Weber’s conversation certainly seemed genuine, Bachelor alum Melissa Rycroft, the original winner of Jason Mesnick’s season, believes Brown didn’t even want to be there in the first place. Rycroft said to Us Weekly, “I would 100 percent imagine producers made her go back on.” She explained, “And I think that she was in an emotional state. But I also think that she found herself now with Peter, who she did have a really great connection with, and now Peter’s the big deal of the moment, everybody’s there for him. And I think she let all of that lead into, ‘Maybe I made a mistake.’” Rycroft went on to say that she believes the emotional conversation should have happened off-camera, though she understands that seeing it play out gives the viewers complete closure on the relationship.

For her part, Rycroft certainly has had her fair share of emotional onscreen conversations. Although Jason Mesnick proposed to her at the end of his season, he broke off their engagement shortly after to pursue a relationship with runner-up Molly Malaney. The emotional conversation took place on-camera while a blindsided Rycroft struggled to come to terms with what was happening. Given her experience, Rycroft expressed a sense of understanding regarding Brown’s current state, saying, “I mean, I follow her a little bit, sounds like she’s a little embarrassed about the conversation.” Rycroft continued, “She probably went home and was like, ‘Oh my God, I can’t believe I did that.’ [The producers] gave her some champagne, they reminded her how great her and Peter were together, and then said, ‘Off you go. There you go.’”

While fans know that producers play a major part in every Bachelor Nation installment, it’s difficult to know just how much of the storyline is riddled with their fingerprints or which lines were being fed to them. While Rycroft knows that the emotions between Weber and Brown were real, she also makes it clear that she thinks that conversation would have never happened if producers hadn’t pushed Brown into it. Truthfully, she could be right. The emotional reunion made for great television, which is the main concern of The Bachelor staff. While it’s hard to imagine that producers would put two people in such a precarious situation, it’s entirely possible that they manipulated Brown’s fragile emotions in the interest of creating a great TV show.

Next: The Bachelor Season 24: 5 Women Who Will Go Far (& 5 Who Don’t Stand a Chance) 

The Bachelor airs Mondays at 8pm EST on ABC.

Source: Us