The Bachelorette host Jesse Palmer has revealed that Gabby Windey and Rachel Recchia broke the rules when navigating an "entirely new format" for Season 19.
|
ADVERTISEMENT
|
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELOR' FRANCHISE COUPLES NOW: WHO IS STILL TOGETHER?? (PHOTOS)
Gabby and Rachel will begin dating the same 32 guys when The Bachelorette's new season premieres Monday, July 11 at 8PM ET/PT on ABC.
Jesse has insisted the women didn't compete against each other for men, but that doesn't mean the nurse and the pilot didn't fall for the same guy or two along the way.
It's clear Gabby and Rachel were sailing on unchartered waters but made an effort to respect and life each other up.
"This is an entirely new format. Two Bachelorettes trying to find love, two different people that are great friends, that come from different backgrounds, but are so deserving of finding love," Jesse told Entertainment Tonight.
Jesse said production had no idea how filming dual The Bachelorette leads for an entire season was going to work.
"Rachel and Gabby have the power to make some of their own decisions," Jesse explained.
"I think in certain moments [they will] really veer off course and do things their own way. There's no set formula... I think that's something that Bachelor Nation and fans at home are going to see. A lot of things are going to happen that have never happened before."
Jesse said Gabby and Rachel were in "a very unique situation" getting to know the same bachelors, which "at times [posed] challenges."
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELORETTE' COUPLES NOW: WHOM DID 'THE BACHELORETTE' STARS AND THEIR BACHELOR PICKS ULTIMATELY END UP WITH?! (PHOTOS)
For instance, "Some guys kinda go into it knowing who they want to date right away and who they're hoping to end up with, and there's some other men that literally have no idea and they're trying to date simultaneously."
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELORETTE' COUPLES NOWJesse revealed that the logistics were complicated and boundaries were blurred for a while.
"When do you feel like you need to make a commitment and how long can you try to juggle both women dating at the same time?" Jesse questioned. "There's no real clear defined answer for all of us -- myself included, producers included -- as we were kinda navigating through this season."
"A lot of times there were situations that came up that we've never encountered and that's sort of the beauty of this season," he added.
But Jesse said Gabby and Rachel kept their sights on "finding love" and "hopefully being engaged at the end," which was the important part.
"It is quite the ride to get there," Jesse noted, adding how the "fresh and new" season will be something Bachelor Nation has "never seen before."
The sports analyst and former The Bachelor star said the "relationship challenges" that will be shown on Season 19 are going to be "really interesting and unique."
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELOR' COUPLES NOW: WHO DID 'THE BACHELOR' STARS AND THEIR BACHELORETTE PICKS ACTUALLY END UP MARRYING? (PHOTOS)
"They're going to make a lot of decisions that have never been made before in the franchise's history, but it's all for one goal and one goal in mind, which is to obviously find love," Jesse said.
ADVERTISEMENT
Former The Bachelor star Nick Viall recently claimed to have heard the inside scoop from production, revealing that The Bachelorette taped on a cruise ship and will have a Bachelor in Paradise-feel to it this year.
"If it doesn't work out, like if, let's say Gabby was like, feeling it with 'Frank.' 'Frank' could be like, 'Rachel, sup?'" Nick explained on his "The Viall Files" podcast.
"There's a little bit of like, options, right? And the thing about Paradise, what makes it different is people have options."
ABC featured two Bachelorettes in one season only once before, but Kaitlyn Bristowe and Britt Nilsson were forced to face off against each other for a solo The Bachelorette role on Night 1 of the show back when Season 11 aired in 2016.
After only several hours of getting to know Kaitlyn and Britt, the men voted for the woman they'd like to continue dating, and Kaitlyn ended up starring on the season with more votes. Britt, who had already competed against Kaitlyn for Chris Soules' heart on The Bachelor's nineteenth edition, was sent home immediately.
Prior to starring on The Bachelorette, Gabby and Rachel both competed for Clayton Echard on The Bachelor's 26th season and were rejected in a group dumping session before he pursued love with Susie Evans.
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELOR' FRANCHISE COUPLES NOW: WHO IS STILL TOGETHER?? (PHOTOS)
Interested in more The Bachelor news? Join our The Bachelor Facebook Group!
About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski
