‘The Bachelor’s Rachel Recchia Clarifies Whether She’s Dating Ex Clayton After Flirty TikTok
Days after exes Rachel Recchia and Clayton Echard broke the Internet by reuniting in a TikTok video, Rachel set the record straight on their relationship status.
Rachel Recchia and Clayton Echard are NOT back together romantically, despite a recent TikTok that had fans wondering whether something could be going on between them. In a video from TMZ, Rachel was asked whether she’s dating Clayton, to which she laughed while responding, “No, but we are friends!” When asked how she’s managed to become friends with an ex who hurt her so badly, Rachel admitted, “A lot of time and healing.” She also kept coy about the current status of her love life and refused to answer whether or not she’s single at the moment.
@pilot.rachel ♬ Explaining it would give us both a aneurysm – Ruthie.gomez
Rachel and Clayton recently hung out with a bunch of other Bachelor Nation alum, including Michelle Young, which is where the TikTok originated. Michelle also previously dated Clayton when he was a contestant on her season of The Bachelorette in 2021. In the TikTok video, Rachel and Clayton sat next to each other on a couch, with his arm casually draped around the back of where she was sitting.
Seeing these two on such amicable terms was quite a shock to fans, considering how their relationship ended. Clayton and Rachel met when she was a contestant on his season of The Bachelor, which filmed in the fall of 2021 and aired at the beginning of 2022. Rachel was one of Clayton’s final three women, along with Gabby Windey and Susie Evans, and he told all three of them that he loved them. However, during his fantasy suite date with Susie, everything fell apart. After he told Susie that he loved her, Clayton also admitted to sleeping with both Gabby and Rachel in the fantasy suite. Susie was not okay with Clayton telling her that he loved her AFTER already being intimate with two other women.
They got into a huge fight, with Clayton accusing Susie of not bringing up that this would be a dealbreaker earlier, and Clayton sent Susie home. When he filled Gabby and Rachel in on what happened, they were both devastated that he could tell three different women that he was in love with them. However, Clayton wound up convincing both Gabby and Rachel to stay, and they even met his parents ahead of the final rose ceremony.
But, at that point, Clayton’s heart was still mostly with Susie, and since she hadn’t left to fly home yet, they reunited and he expressed his feelings for her. Susie agreed to give Clayton another shot, and he had to end things with Gabby and Rachel. Both women were upset, but also angry, because Clayton had convinced them to stay, only to then turn around and dump them. When they reunited months after filming ended, Rachel and Gabby were both still pissed at Clayton, and they went on to star on season 19 of The Bachelorette together. While Gabby and Rachel both got engaged on the show, their relationships ended just months after their proposals. Meanwhile, Clayton and Susie left the show separately, but eventually reunited and dated for several months before splitting up.