The Bachelorette star Rachel Recchia has dished on her reunion with Clayton Echard and how they hashed things out after their brutal breakup on The Bachelor's 26th season.
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When asked if it felt weird to hang out with a man whom she had expressed her love to on The Bachelor, Rachel responded, "I don't know. Going into this weekend, I think I had no idea what to expect."
"I think we knew we were going to kind of be civil, but we were able to actually have really good conversation and talk everything through as adults," Rachel shared.
"And having both been through our own seasons, it's been really nice to see him as, like, a friend now. And Michelle was there to watch it!"
Last week, Rachel, Michelle and Clayton posted funny videos on TikTok while they were spending time with The Bachelorette alum Blake Horstmann and his girlfriend Giannina Gibelli, who appeared on Season 2 of Love Is Blind.
In one of the videos, Michelle lip syncs, "Are you going to tell me what's going on?"
"I would," Rachel responds, "but I think explaining it might give us both an aneurysm."
As Rachel mouths her line while sitting on a couch, the camera pans to the other side of the couch and shows Clayton sitting beside her.
Michelle teased Rachel on the "Almost Famous Podcast" for spending most of her time with Clayton during their little get-together in early February.
"I've been by myself this weekend," Michelle joked. "And then I finally got my bestie back because they talked through everything that they needed to talk about, which they did need to talk. And now I have her back!"
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELORETTE' COUPLES NOW: WHOM DID 'THE BACHELORETTE' STARS AND THEIR BACHELOR PICKS ULTIMATELY END UP WITH?! (PHOTOS)
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELORETTE' COUPLES NOW"Almost Famous" co-host Ashley Iaconetti proceeded to ask the ladies who would be more likely to get back together with Clayton.
"Uhh, I'm taking myself out of the question before you finish," Michelle interjected with a laugh.
"Would it more likely be Rachel?" Ashley asked.
"Hell yeah!" Michelle replied.
As Rachel was giggling in the background, Michelle confirmed, "My name is out of the question. I'm not even in the running."
Rachel didn't answer the question, but she did confirm her relationship with Clayton was more serious than what she had developed with Zach Shallcross on The Bachelorette's nineteenth season last year.
In addition to having said, "I love you," to Clayton, Rachel recalled, "He met my family, I met his family and vice versa. With Zach, I only met his family and I never did get to that point with him."
When Rachel and Clayton reunited and filmed videos together, The Bachelor fans speculated whether they were reconciling and giving their relationship another shot.
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On The Bachelor's 26th season, Clayton slept with both Rachel and Gabby Windey in the Fantasy Suites, and he also told both women, in addition to Susie Evans, that he loved them. Susie quit the show after hearing the news, and then Rachel and Gabby went on to meet his family.
Clayton, however, ultimately decided that he loved Susie "the most" and wanted to pursue her.
As a result, Clayton dumped Rachel and Gabby simultaneously, and both women admittedly felt used, embarrassed and devastated.
Susie returned to The Bachelor for the Final Rose Ceremony in Iceland, but she rejected Clayton in fear he wasn't her "person." However, the pair reunited in the real world and began dating before they filmed After the Final Rose in March 2022.
Clayton moved to Virginia Beach to live with Susie and they gave their relationship their best effort, but they announced their split in September 2022.
After Clayton and Rachel posted their cheeky TikTok videos, Susie raised eyebrows with a social-media post of her own.
"Walking on the side of the street with sun not shade >," she captioned a selfie on Instagram Stories.
Clayton is now living in Scottsdale, AZ. He was recently spotted on an apparent date with Colombian sports reporter Sara Cardona, who previously lived in Nashville but is now working in Lexington, KY.
For Michelle's part, she sent Clayton packing on The Bachelorette's eighteenth season when selecting her Final 4 bachelors for hometown dates. Michelle accepted a marriage proposal from Nayte Olukoya during the late 2021 finale, but they announced their breakup in June 2022.
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELOR' FRANCHISE COUPLES NOW: WHO IS STILL TOGETHER?? (PHOTOS)
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About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski
