Zach Shallcross left The Bachelorette during the final three rose ceremony on Sept. 13. The decision came following a private conversation with Rachel Recchia during the pair’s fantasy suite date. Zach felt like things completely changed between him and Rachel off-camera, where she worried that, at 25, he might be too young to be ready to commit to marriage.
Before the rose ceremony, Zach pulled Rachel aside to let her know how he felt about the fantasy suite date. “What I was seeing wasn’t the real Rachel,” he said. “What I was seeing was Bachelorette Rachel. Not the real Rachel I’ve come to know and love. At this point late in the stage where I’ve expressed and shown my absolutely love for you…I feel upset and disappointed that I wasn’t able to get that from you.”
Rachel told Zach that she’d been trying to gain clarity about their relationship for a while and said she was finally able to during the fantasy suite. Zach admitted that he was “blindsided” by Rachel being concerned about his age all of a sudden. “I was just trying to find that missing piece for me,” Rachel explained. “And I did think if we spent the night talking that I could find it.”
Zach told Rachel that he was in love with her, but knew he had to go. Rachel didn’t try to fight for him to stay. “I truly need you to know that I wish I could’ve gotten there,” she insisted. The two ended on awkward terms as Rachel walked him to the car and they went their separate ways.
Rachel went back into the rose ceremony and gave roses to her remaining two men, Tino Franco and Aven Jones. She also told them she was disappointed that anyone would question her character at this point, but didn’t want to talk about Zach any further.
Meanwhile, Zach was in tears as he was driven away. “I could see in her eyes that it meant something different to her than it did to me,” Zach said. “I don’t know what I missed. I saw it that night in the fantasy suite that it was off. I don’t know. This still doesn’t feel real. She was, in my mind, the future Mrs. Shallcross. Her response felt so cold. I thought it meant more, but I guess maybe it didn’t. One of the things that I fell in love with was that she made me feel special. I cared for her. And I question if that was even real.”
At After the Final Rose, Rachel and Zach reunited for the first time since their breakup, and they were completely amicable. They both apologized for how things went down in Mexico. Zach said he was sorry for making her feel like he called out her character, and Rachel apologized for making it seem like she was putting on an act. Zach admitted that he could’ve handled things better, and Rachel reiterated that she was just looking for clarity in the fantasy suite.
“Everything that happened was awkward and I’m sorry,” Rachel said. “I wanted us to be able to get [clarity] that night, and I wanted to see if we could get there. Ultimately I couldn’t, but I never wanted you to feel like I was going to put you through something like that if I wasn’t truly trying to see if we could come out on the other side.”
Rachel also explained that she questioned ALL the men, not just Zach, about whether they were ready for marriage. Both Zach and Rachel also shared that they wanted each other to be happy, even if it wasn’t with each other. They wished each other the best and ended the night on good terms.