Rachel Recchia and Gabby Windey. Image Source: Page Six
Season 19 of The Bachelorette will feature Rachel Recchia and Gabby Windey as the leading ladies!
Season 19 of The Bachelorette is going to have two leading ladies who will be finding love: Rachel Recchia and Gabby Windey, who were the finalists in season twenty-six of The Bachelor. The host, Jesse Palmer, announced during the After the Final Rose special and revealed that he would be returning as the host for The Bachelorette.
Rachel Recchia and Gabby Windey had a devastating breakup with Clayton Echard at the finale of The Bachelor as he decided to break up with them at the same time and move ahead with Susie Evans. The two strong women are once again going to try to find love and stick by each other’s side.
Rachel said that she is very happy for Gabby and her and finds this new concept of two leading ladies crazy, but she is very excited to be on this journey with Gabby. She mentioned that they have been on a crazy journey together and now it is time to do it again. Gabby also chimed in that she is a girl’s girl and having a friend by her side as she finds love is the best thing she could ask for.
Asking about the kind of guy they will be looking for, Rachel said someone who is supportive and loves her, whereas Gabby added that she is looking for someone who is emotionally intelligent, mature, can challenge her and must has a good sense of humor. While discussing if they could also follow Clayton Echard’s steps and fall for multiple people, Gabby Windey said that she could, and she has learned that she has to be discrete with her words. It was also revealed that, unlike in season 11, Rachel and Gabby would both remain on the show to date and find their soul mate.
Before the announcement of Rachel and Gabby being the leading ladies of The Bachelorette season 19, Clayton Echard spoke to US Weekly and shared that he’d be happy to see any of his former contestants as the leading lady of The Bachelorette. He shared that he was blessed that the women in his season were phenomenal and stuck by his side throughout the season and believed that any one of them could have been a perfect fit.
The reports suggest that although it is a surprising twist, it does kind of make sense because these two women were blindsided by Clayton Echard and his poor decision-making. Speaking of Clayton, in the After the Final Rose special episode, both women got their chance to tell The Bachelor how his decision to reject them and rekindle his romance with Susie Evans made them feel.
Gabby Windey shared that while watching the show and Clayton Echard’s journey, she felt misled and betrayed by Clayton. The Bachelor tried to explain it to her that her intentions were not wrong or hurtful she understood him. She further added that watching the show had made her realize that Clayton Echard was trying to measure all three women and she never wanted to be a part of it. Gabby mentioned that she is not a fan of the action that pits one woman against the other woman. She added that Clayton Echard should have focused on finding the perfect fit for him and should also have taken a check on the weight of his words.
Rachel Recchia, on the other hand, revealed that she was devastated when Clayton Echard broke her heart, along with Gabby Windey's when he decided to break up with them and pursue what he had with Susie Evans. Rachel stayed back after the rose ceremony only because she felt like she had been robbed of the opportunity to stand up for herself and she needed it. She also went ahead and said that she felt disrespected because Clayton was never in love with her or Gabby instead of confessing it.
Clayton Echard did apologize to both of them, but Rachel was not okay with his breakup tactic and then accused him of saying to her that she was the first person he had said I love you too in six years and she had no reason to doubt you, so was he actually in love with her or had he just said it to sleep with her? Rachel was adamant that he had never been in love with her. It seems like neither of the two had a problem with him going back to Susie Evans, just the way he did it.
The Bachelorette premieres Monday, July 11 on ABC.
