As The Bachelorette season 19 comes to an end, there has been much speculation about Rachel Recchia's relationship status, and now more details about what happened after the final rose have been revealed. Best friends Rachel, a 26-year-old pilot and flight instructor from Clermont, Florida, and Gabby Windey, a 31-year-old ICU nurse from Denver, Colorado, became the first-ever co-Bachelorettes. At the end of part 1 of the season finale, each woman had only one man left. Rachel's final choice was Tino Franco, a 28-year-old general contractor from Santa Clarita, California, and Gabby's was Erich Schwer, a 29-year-old real estate analyst from Bedminster, New Jersey.
The sneak peek for The Bachelorette season 19 finale teased that Rachel expected to get engaged to Tino at the end of the show. However, there were many scenes of Rachel and Tino arguing and crying. In one scene, Tino says that Rachel is throwing him under the bus, while in another, Rachel accuses him of lying straight to her face. She is also shown telling Tino, "I want an answer for why you did what you did." In a voiceover, Rachel says, "I have never felt this blindsided and betrayed. I'm done." Many fans speculated that the argument between Rachel and Tino was filmed after the finale when the couples are allowed to visit each other.
Now, Reality Steve supposedly has all of the details about what actually happens between Rachel and Tino at the end of The Bachelorette season 19. The blogger confirmed that Rachel and Tino did get engaged at the end of the season, but things quickly took a turn for the worse. He said that at some point after the engagement, Rachel told Tino that when she moved to Los Angeles, she wanted to give back the engagement ring and just date. Reality Steve is unsure of why Rachel felt that way, but he knows that Tino was not in agreement, though he never told Rachel because he was afraid that he would lose her. The Bachelor Nation blogger revealed that after Rachel told Tino her feelings, "the relationship was murky" and "communication was poor." During a night out at this time, Tino kissed another woman. Rachel found out because Tino told her. He said it was a one-time kiss, they did not sleep together, and it was not an ongoing thing.
Reality Steve said that whether Rachel believes it was only a kiss probably will be addressed on the After the Final Rose post-show special. He said that he tried to find out who the girl was, but he was told that she wants nothing to do with this situation. Because of that, the woman's relationship with Tino remains a mystery, including whether she was an ex-girlfriend, someone he knew from this past, or a random person whom he met. At that point, Rachel ended her relationship with Tino, and supposedly this is the argument that was aired in the promos for the show. Apparently, Tino knows that he made a mistake and has apologized, but Rachel is "checked out" of the relationship. It seems unlikely that they will reconcile on ATFR. Reality Steve said that his guess is that if Rachel would have given the relationship another chance at the time, Tino would have wanted that, but he understood why Rachel decided to end things because he knew that he broke her trust. The million dollar question at this point is why Rachel would give back the ring and say that she only wanted to date Tino when she wanted to be engaged on the show so much.
This breakup is a sad development for The Bachelorette, especially since the previous six leading ladies (Becca Kufrin, Hannah Brown, Clare Crawley, Tayshia Adams, Katie Thurston, and Michelle Young) also ended their engagements since their seasons aired. As of this writing, Gabby and Erich seem to still be together, but might not have gotten engaged, so at least one good thing came out of this chaotic Bachelorette season. As Rachel moves forward with her life after her time as the Bachelorette, hopefully she will find the love she seeks.
The Bachelorette season 18 finale airs Tuesday, September 20 at 8 p.m. EDT on ABC.
Source: Reality Steve, Bachelor Nation on ABC/YouTube