Shooting his shot! The Bachelorette star Mike Johnson might have his sights set on a new love interest — Bachelor producer Julie LaPlaca.
The reality star, 32, left a flirty comment via Instagram on a photo LaPlaca posted of herself laying on a fur blanket while gazing into the camera.
“Damn! Are you a producer or the future bachelorette,” Johnson wrote on Thursday, April 2, adding a rose emoji. LaPlaca responded, “I hear you’re the bachelor now?” to which Johnson replied, “lmfao yesterday only.”
LaPlaca’s dating life first came into the spotlight when she sparked speculation hat she was dating season 28 Bachelor Peter Weber. The pair rang in the New Year together in New York City in December 2019. Two months later, the 28-year-old pilot and LaPlaca were spotted hanging out together again at a winery.
However, a source told Us Weekly in February that the duo “act like colleagues and friends around each other.”
The insider added, “There really is no truth to Peter being with Julie. They were friends, but nothing romantic has ever happened between them.”
The twosome confirmed that their relationship is strictly platonic in March. Weber told TMZ that LaPlaca is just “a good friend,” while LaPlaca set the record straight via Instagram.
“Yes that was @pilot_pete in the tan jacket, no we didn’t kiss at midnight,” LaPlaca captioned a photo of herself and Weber celebrating New Year’s Eve in Times Square. “But whoever ends up as his copilot for life is one lucky lady, because this guy has a heart of gold.”
Johnson, for his part, previously dated Hannah Brown on season 15 of The Bachelorette. He later briefly dated Demi Lovato after flirting with her via social media but the duo called it quits in October 2019.
The ABC personality has no problem sharing his crushes with the public. Last month, Johnson hinted that Bachelor contestant Kelley Flanagan had caught his eye.
“I think Kelley has amazing uh, what do you call it, dimples?” Johnson said in an Instagram Live with Connor Saeli in March. “I think that she’s a little badass, that’s for sure. That’s all I’m gonna say.”
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