Rachel Recchia and Gabby Windey decided to follow their own separate paths on the July 25 episode of The Bachelorette. Rather than date all of the remaining men at the same time, Gabby and Rachel gave out individual roses to the men they specifically wanted to pursue. The decision came after a tough week for Gabby, who was already feeling insecure about whether or not she was the right fit for the role of the Bachelorette.
On the group date, three different guys — Hayden Markowitz, Jacob Rapini and Tyler Norris — all told Gabby that they wanted to pursue Rachel instead of her. Hayden told Gabby she was too “rough around the edges” for him, while Jacob said that he wouldn’t continue on this journey if she was the only Bachelorette. The comments hit Gabby hard, leaving her in tears.
“I’ve been freaking out all week that I’m not good enough to be the Bachelorette and then Hayden tells me he feels his morals more align with Rachel,” Gabby said. “And being called “rough around the edges” definitely hurts. It’s a fear. I think these guys are coming to me saying because I’m different they don’t want to be with me is validating that I’m too much for people.”
Rachel gave her group date rose to Aven Jone, while Gabby decided not to give out a rose herself. Rachel was shocked, as she didn’t realize how poorly things were going for Gabby. Together, they made the decision to take separate journeys from here on out. At the rose ceremony, they gave roses to the men they were individually interested in.
Gabby gave her roses to Nate Mitchell, Johnny DePhillipo, Spencer Swies, Michael Vaughan, Jason Alabaster, Mario Vassall, Kirk Bryant and Quincey Williams. They all accepted.
Rachel gave roses to Tino Franco and Logan Palmer, but then her third pick, Termayne Harper, rejected the rose. Rachel was no longer able to hand out that rose, while Termayne was able to wait and see if Gabby would offer him a rose. Alec Marza also rejected Rachel’s rose. “It as so embarrassing because it was in front of everyone,” Rachel admitted. “It was really surprising because I didn’t think Termayne and Gabby had that strong of a connection. Getting rejected is humiliating, but I feel like I owe it to myself to prove that I can be strong enough to hold it together for the rest of the rose ceremony.”
Things got better briefly when Tyler, Ethan Kang, and Jordan Helman all accepted roses from Rachel, but then James “Meatball” Clarke rejected her. Rachel was so upset that she and Gabby walked out of the rose ceremony. “I just feel so bad and so rejected,” Rachel said. “It was private [for you] but it’s so embarrassing in public. This was supposed to be us taking the power back. Now I look stupid to everyone who has my rose.” Rachel offered up her final rose to Hayden, who accepted it.
After the rose ceremony, Meatball came back to talk to Rachel, letting her know that he would be interested in getting to know her better. She decided to give him a rose and let him continue on this journey with her.