The Bachelorette alum Rachel Recchia has teased her stint on Bachelor in Paradise’s ninth season and how it was a “very real” experience for her.
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After failing to find lasting love on The Bachelor’s 26th season and on her own The Bachelorette season, Rachel decided to travel to Mexico and appear on Bachelor in Paradise, which will premiere with a two-hour episode on Thursday, September 28 at 9PM ET/PT, immediately following the debut of The Golden Bachelor on ABC.
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“I’m in Paradise and it’s so funny because it started off as something we would all kind of talk about or joke about. And then, it turned into something very real. I can say my time in Paradise was very real,” Rachel said during a recent appearance on the “Bachelor Happy Hour” podcast, which is co-hosted by Bachelor in Paradise spouses Joe Amabile and Serena Pitt.
Given Rachel’s first two attempts on The Bachelor franchise ended in heartbreak, she admitted that she had low expectations going into Paradise.
But once the former flight instructor arrived on the beach, she said she didn’t hold back.
“When I was there, I was serious about knowing what Paradise can be for couples like you, [Joe and Serena], and [Mari Pepin-Solis and Kenny Braasch]… and I’m like, ‘Let’s see if this could work!'” Rachel shared.
Rachel also pointed out how Becca Kufrin found her forever with Thomas Jacobs on Paradise.
In addition, Hannah Godwin and Dylan Barbour just got married in Paris, and Abigail Heringer recently accepted a marriage proposal from her Paradise partner, Noah Erb.
“Going into this, [I was] like, ‘If anything can work, it’s going to be Paradise.’ Let’s try it!” Rachel said.
The blonde beauty apparently thought to herself, “Let’s just see if this can work for me… It’s worked for so many people… I was very much there to find someone, genuinely, so we’ll see if I do. Who knows?!”
Serena noted during Rachel’s interview how she was wearing one of Brayden Bowers’ earrings. Rachel, however, didn’t provide a comment.
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During The Bachelorette’s live Season 20 finale on August 21, Bachelor in Paradise host Jesse Palmer hinted how something may have happened between Rachel and The Bachelorette 20 villain, Brayden, in Paradise.
In fact, Rachel and Brayden were sitting next to each other in the live studio audience for The Bachelorette finale.
And ABC released a trailer for Bachelor in Paradise that showed Rachel kissing Jordan Vandergriff, a suitor whom she had sent packing during Week 2 of her joint The Bachelorette season with Gabby Windey.
“This is crazy — getting a second chance,” Rachel tells the cameras. “I think things happen for a reason.”
The trailer certainly had its wild, crazy and emotional moments, but Rachel actually thought it was pretty tame.
Rachel explained on the podcast, “I thought [the trailer] was very underwhelming compared to what actually happened, which is a good thing! I watched it, and I was like, ‘Wait, where is the drama? Where is the crying?'”
“There is so, so much more to see [this season],” she elaborated. “I am very excited for everyone to see it. I think what aired [in the trailer] is completely just very mild compared to what actually happened.”
Rachel said she had her sights set on an engagement in Paradise and that Gabby was nothing but “supportive” and “happy” for her in her continued search to find The One.
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Gabby, meanwhile, is in a happy romantic relationship with a woman, comedian Robby Hoffman.
Rachel’s The Bachelorette 19 winner and ex-fiance, Tino Franco, offered his opinion about Rachel appearing on Paradise during the August 23 episode of The Bachelor alum Courtney Robertson’s “After Reality” podcast.
“I’ll probably watch because I heard rumors that [Aven Jones] and [Tyler Norris] and a couple of the guys I liked from my season went down,” Tino shared.
“So I’ll be rooting them on, and if [Rachel] thinks she can find love [on Paradise] after everything she’s been through, I mean, good for her.”
Tino, who had cheated on Rachel during their short-lived engagement, proceeded to give Rachel props for putting her heart on the line again.
“One thing, I think — whether you like her or dislike her — you’ve got to give her credit for is there’s no quit in her. I’ll be watching, but, you know, I’ll be focusing on and rooting for the boys,” Tino shared.
Rachel has had a change of heart about Bachelor in Paradise since last year.
When Rachel spoke to Becca Kufrin about her love life during a November episode of the “Bachelor Happy Hour” podcast, she initially said she’d only be interested in showing up to Paradise if her bestie Michelle Young — who starred on The Bachelorette’s eighteenth season and is single after her split from Nayte Olukoya — would join her on the beach in Mexico.
But Rachel said at the time she’d “absolutely” star on The Bachelorette again if the show could provide her with her perfect match.
One month earlier, Rachel complained on the “Off the Vine with Kaitlyn Bristowe” podcast how she just wants a commitment from a man and to be done with dating.
“The fact that I find myself now in the same position [as I was in before The Bachelor], I’m like, ‘I don’t want to do this.’ I wanted to find my person,” Rachel vented.
“I want to get married, I want to start a family. That’s where I’m at in my life. I don’t want to go back to the streets, and now I’m forced to! Literally!”
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About The Author:
Elizabeth Kwiatkowski
Elizabeth Kwiatkowski is Associate Editor of Reality TV World and has been covering the reality TV genre for more than a decade.