The Bachelorette alums Rachel Recchia and Blake Moynes traveled to Africa and looked cozy on a safari together after repeatedly denying dating rumors.
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In the footage, Rachel was leaning into Blake as he rested his arm on her leg.
"I almost forgot that this is the whole point," Rachel wrote over the clip.
Rachel captioned her upload, "First sunset in Africa."
The Bachelor fans have been shipping Rachel and Blake as a couple for quite some time.
But Rachel denied that she and Blake were dating as recently as December 2024.
"I always see pictures of you and Blake. I love him!" Trista Rehn told Rachel during an episode of "Almost Famous OG," which is part of "The Ben & Ashley I: Almost Famous Podcast."
Rachel replied, "I do too, I really do."
After Trista admitted she'd love to see Rachel and Blake become an item, Rachel responded, "People, they always go, which is so funny."
"But he is like one of my best friends," Rachel confirmed in December. "We are so different. We have such different types."
Rachel explained that Blake, who works in wildlife conservation and awareness, has a "more wider range of a type" while she prefers a pretty boy.
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELORETTE' COUPLES NOW"I'm in my more feminine guy era," Rachel revealed.
"But Blake says I have to stop doing that," she continued. "He's like, 'That's why you can't find a boyfriend, because you need a manly guy.' And I'm like, 'I have not been looking for that and so I'm just trying to keep an open mind.'"
Rachel said at the time she was trying to "branch out" and date a variety of men.
And that wasn't the first time Rachel had shut down dating speculation.
Rachel and Blake raised eyebrows when they walked the red carpet together at a swanky event in Laguna Beach, CA, in August 2024.
"Everyone wants us to be a couple so bad," Rachel said during an August episode of the "Almost Famous" podcast.
Rachel added, "I feel like we always address the rumor over and over again, but we're still not a couple. We're friends."
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELORETTE' COUPLES NOW: WHOM DID 'THE BACHELORETTE' STARS AND THEIR BACHELOR PICKS ULTIMATELY END UP WITH?! (PHOTOS)
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Ashley pointed out how Rachel and Blake "look really cute together" and so it's hard to believe the pair never made out, at the very least, during one of their hangout sessions or wildlife conservation trips dating back to 2023.
"You've definitely made out!" Ashley quipped.
"We haven't!" Rachel insisted. "We literally haven't. At this point, I say, 'We just should,' because then we can just be like, 'Yeah, we made out and it wasn't good.'"
But Ashley asked what would happen if kissing Blake ended up being really good.
"Maybe we should!" Rachel replied.
"I love [him]. He's my most solid guy friend. I go to him for everything," she explained. "So I'm also like, 'Who would I go to then if we had that weird kiss, and then things got awkward?'"
Ashley, who married her longtime best friend Jared Haibon after years of pining for him, advised Rachel to "do it now" before things could get really awkward.
"One day," Rachel teased.
Rachel and Blake both appeared on Season 9 of Bachelor in Paradise in 2023. The pals chose to leave the show after not finding a serious and potentially lasting connection.
"We went to Paradise together. We've been friends and have done trips for over a year," Rachel shared of her dynamic with Blake. "If it was meant to be, I think it would have happened."
Rachel also apparently thought that ABC was going to name Blake The Bachelor star for Season 29, but the honor ultimately went to Grant Ellis.
The Season 19 The Bachelorette star admitted to Ashley she "actually was surprised" that ABC didn't choose Blake as their new leading man.
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"There's always speculation, and I think they talk to so many people. I think he would be such a good Bachelor. I want to watch wildlife dates."
Ashley acknowledged how The Bachelor audience already has familiarity with Blake and he's emotionally mature and intelligent, which would make for "easy" and "fun" television viewing.
"I agree," Rachel concluded. "Maybe one year, at another time [Blake will be the Bachelor]."
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELOR' COUPLES NOW: WHO DID 'THE BACHELOR' STARS AND THEIR BACHELORETTE PICKS ACTUALLY END UP MARRYING? (PHOTOS)
Blake has also commented on his friendship with Ashley before.
Rachel once commented on one of Blake's Instagram posts with four heart emojis, but Blake wrote back, "Rachel, [I] went on the bach with a chance to find a partner. Instead found a sister."
The fact Blake called Rachel his "sister" definitely implied that he didn't view her in a romantic light.
Rachel is still single after appearing on several The Bachelor spinoffs.
Rachel first competed for Clayton Echard's heart on The Bachelor's 26th season, and after she had her heart broken by Clayton, she co-starred on The Bachelorette's nineteenth season alongside Gabby Windey.
Rachel got engaged to Tino Franco at the end of her season, but they broke up before After the Final Rose aired because he had cheated on her with another woman.
Rachel went on to appear on Bachelor in Paradise's ninth season, where she had romances with Sean McLaughlin, Brayden Bowers, Jordan Vandergriff and Tanner Courtad.
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Rachel joked with the podcast's co-hosts Susan Noles and Kathy Swarts about how she was possibly done with dating forever after a string of bad luck in that department.
Blake, meanwhile, admitted in May 2024 that he was feeling "lost" trying to navigate his dating life after multiple stints on reality television.
Blake had dated Clare Crawley and Tayshia Adams on The Bachelorette's sixteenth season, and then he appeared on Season 17 of the show and got engaged to Katie Thurston.
Blake and Katie announced their split not long after the finale aired in October 2021, and then he went on to date Jess Girod on Bachelor in Paradise.
But Blake and Jess broke up before Fantasy Suites because she struggled to picture him as her future husband.
"I'm a confident guy, but this is one avenue right now I'm a little lost in trying to navigate," Blake told Susan and Kathy on the "Golden Hour" podcast.
"Because it is extremely difficult, and I don't have the answer right now," he added.
Susan suggested that Blake needs to find a woman who would enjoy doing the same kind of work for animals.
"Definitely would help!" Blake acknowledged. "There are just definitely slim pickings."
Kathy voiced how the right person will probably come Blake's way as long as he continues to focus on his passions, and The Bachelorette alum confirmed, "Yeah, that's the way I'm looking at it, for sure."
Blake said he's looking for a woman "who is very established and knows what they want, and is independent and has a life that they're pursuing and is passionate about something."
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Blake said there's "no question" in his mind that he wants to get married and have a family one day.
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About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski
