The Bachelor alum Rachel Recchia has slammed Clayton Echard for how he ended things with her on Perfect Match's third season.
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"I was so upset because it's more than, like, 'This stings, this breakup.' It's like, 'You are humiliating me -- you know that you're doing this! You know that I have a willingness to forgive you and you take advantage of it,'" Rachel told Nick Viall during a recent episode of his "The Viall Files" podcast.
"I mean, he really does!"
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Rachel said she didn't want to speak "ill will" of Clayton but she believes he went on Perfect Match in search of "redemption" after his trainwreck The Bachelor season in 2022.
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"And I'm the easiest path to it. That was right in front of him!" Rachel vented. "I think he saw it and then the next day, he was like, 'I genuinely can't do it.'"
Despite some initial resistance and hesitation on Rachel's part, she accepted Clayton's request to match up for the night on Perfect Match's third season.
"That night, we didn't even speak!... You're saying there isn't chemistry there? We didn't even talk last night!" Rachel said.
After spending 24 hours matched, Clayton changed his mind about pursuing Rachel and told her the following: "My intuition was telling me that this is not going to work between us, and I don't want to hurt you. That's why I'm having this conversation as soon as possible... I can't do this."
Rachel quipped on "The Viall Files" podcast, "We talked about your spiritual journey and how production this time was different. You didn't even try to get to know me!"
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But Nick pointed out how Clayton had told Rachel on the show that they had become better versions of themselves since The Bachelor's 26th season.
"I definitely am!" Rachel said with a laugh, taking a jab at Clayton.
Rachel claimed the way Clayton had treated her on Perfect Match "was like performative mercy."
"[He was] like, 'I'm going to give you this season and I'm going to let you date and step away,'" Rachel said.
"But then in his interview, he's like, 'I'm trying to put myself on a date. Tomorrow, Rachel is going home -- bags are packed.' But I'm like, 'You told me this was for me!'"
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Rachel vented about how she was "delusional" on both The Bachelor and Perfect Match.
"Did you see how delusional I was? I'm still delusional," Rachel admitted.
"Every time I'm with Clayton I go back to an absolute state of delusion. I don't know how else to describe it."
Rachel said she's not sure if she's drawn to Clayton because internally, she's been struggling with the fact he had "made the wrong decision" on The Bachelor when he had picked Susie Evans over her.
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"And now you finally see it! And that's what it felt like," Rachel noted.
"[But then] he said, 'My intuition told me to dump you for a third time. Voices are speaking to me in the night and they're telling me this is not good!'"
Rachel joked about how Clayton doesn't think things through "past 12 hours."
Going back to The Bachelor's 26th season, Clayton had slept with Rachel and professed his love to her, only to then blindside and dump her in favor of Susie about a day or so later.
Because Clayton had publicly humiliated both Rachel and his other finalist, Gabby Windey, the two ladies ended up co-starring on Season 19 of The Bachelorette.
Although Clayton made Rachel cry on television again, she insisted she's "genuinely" rooting for his happiness going forward.
"I think he's changed but I think the same decision making is what's getting him in trouble, and that hasn't changed," Rachel said.
Clayton defended his decision to dump Rachel -- again -- and leave her in tears on Perfect Match's third season earlier this week.
"I just had to end it," Clayton told People of his short-lived Perfect Match romance with Rachel.
"I never had any intention of hurting her. Unfortunately, in dating shows, there's emotions attached, so it's hard to get out unscathed."
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Clayton claimed there wasn't a specific reason as to why he ended things with Rachel "other than it was a feeling."2
Following his night with Rachel, Clayton said he woke up with a bad feeling.
"When I woke up, my heart dropped, and I felt this pit in my stomach and I realized, 'That wasn't the right decision,'" Clayton explained.
"At that point, I gave it the day, made sure that that was the correct feeling and that it didn't go away -- and it didn't. And so at that point I thought, 'This is hard, but it's only going to be worse if I try to drag it and take more time.'"
Clayton therefore noted how he "was very decisive" in choosing to let Rachel go.
"There's going to be a large swathe of people that are going to attack me for it. But truthfully, I did what I thought was best, and I stand by that," Clayton told People.
Clayton continued: "So the negativity that comes my way, if that's how people feel, that's fine. But I did what I thought was best. And so I stand by that."
After Clayton dumped Rachel on Perfect Match, he quit the show since he hadn't connected with any of the other women.
Clayton apparently got the closure he needed from his relationship with Rachel, who went on to match with Love Island USA alum Scott van-der-Sluis.
The first six episodes of Perfect Match's third season are now streaming on Netflix. The rest of the episodes will drop weekly through the finale on August 15.
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