Bachelor star Zach Shallcross and former TV girlfriend Rachel Recchia have finally made their peace. “She actually reached out, and she sent a very sweet message,” Zach told Us Weekly at the Women Tell All taping. “She’s very supportive. It was a very nice message. I’m very happy.” Zach needs a thesaurus, so he can find a synonym for the word “very.” It’s very redundant.
Things did not end well for Rachel and Zach on Season 19 of The Bachelorette. After foregoing separate rooms to spend the night as a couple in the Fantasy Suite, Zach saw a different side of the pilot behind closed doors. He also thought Rachel questioned his readiness for marriage, even though he’s only four months younger than her.
Zach claimed to have bared his heart to Rachel during their time alone but didn’t feel his feelings were reciprocated. Because of this lack of connection, he eliminated himself at the next Rose Ceremony, rather than continue with someone who wasn’t genuine. Ouch. That one stung.
While they seemed to resolve things during After the Final Rose, Zach again threw shade at Rachel during The Bachelor season premiere. He said the flight instructor was “very inauthentic” behind closed doors and they had “communication” issues.
“There was a lot of question marks and a lot of guessing,” Zach explained. “And when it came down to last season with Rachel, a lot of stuff came to fruition and [there were] a lot of big question marks and surprises, and that leads to shock . . . [O]ne thing that I pride myself on is the fact of having communication throughout [my time as the Bachelor]. So I even told all the women on night one, like, good or bad, please tell me how you’re feeling. Because I will.”
Zach clarified how important communication is to a “healthy relationship . . . And that [was lacking] with Rachel and I last season.” Rachel said she was “actually shocked.” Not only by the shade but also by the comments Zach made on Ben Higgins and Ashley Iaconetti’s Almost Famous podcast. That Rachel had treated him “like a stranger” and asked him “interview questions” in the Fantasy Suite.
“All this talk about [Zach wanting] ‘someone who’s authentic on and off camera,’” Rachel said, “It’s just really honestly shocking to hear him still kind of paint me in this, like, really negative light, where I thought at our After the Final Rose, we kind of did make up.”
Rachel denied that she was “inauthentic” off camera. She explained there was a stronger connection with eventual fiancé Tino Franco, than with Zach. Rachel and Tino did get engaged, but split while the show was still filming, amid accusations of Tino’s alleged “cheating.”
“People watched me, time after time, send people home on the spot, when I knew it wasn’t right. And I genuinely cared about Zach so much that I wanted to give him this time. And I wanted to see if we can align. And when you get behind closed doors, you’re like, ‘OK, let’s honestly have a conversation.’ . . . Even after an apology, it’s still being painted like this. It just really is so hurtful,” Rachel added.
On the February 20 episode, Zach seemed to reference Rachel again, when he told Gabi Elnicki about his experience “last season, where I thought I knew someone, and then I learned I didn’t.” Even though she could have taken offense at his mentioning her, Rachel took the high road instead. She tweeted, “Let’s all be mindful and extend a little bit of compassion and grace towards the leads of the show.”
TELL US – DO YOU THINK IT’S TIME FOR ZACH TO STOP DWELLING ON HIS PAST WITH RACHEL AND LOOK TOWARD THE FUTURE? WERE YOU SURPRISED THAT RACHEL REACHED OUT TO MAKE PEACE WITH ZACH?
[Photo credit: ABC/Nino Munoz]
