The Bachelorette alum Rachel Recchia has shut down Blake Moynes dating rumors -- once again.
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Rachel, 28, replied, "I do too, I really do."
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After Trista admitted she always ships Rachel and Blake as a couple when she sees them together, Rachel responded, "People, they always go, which is so funny."
"But he is like one of my best friends," Rachel confirmed on the Saturday, December 21 episode of the podcast. "We are so different. We have such different types."
Rachel explained that Blake, a 34-year-old who works in wildlife conservation and awareness, has a "more wider range of a type" while she prefers a pretty boy.
"I'm in my more feminine guy era," Rachel revealed.
"But Blake says I have to stop doing that. He's like, 'That's why you can't find a boyfriend, because you need a manly guy,'" Rachel shared.
"And I'm like, 'I have not been looking for that and so I'm just trying to keep an open mind.'"
Trista joked about how Rachel may be trying to find a "gay bestie," and she quipped, "Maybe!"
"I'm like, 'No this hasn't been working again!' So genuinely, this is my issue," Rachel said.
"But I am trying to branch out and I have tried to date -- nothing that's to report on, but when I can, I will let you know. When I can, I will let you know."
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The pilot instructor concluded, "But I have been dating a little. There will be something to report, but not currently."
Rachel and Blake walked the red carpet together at a swanky event in Laguna Beach, CA, in August, which prompted speculation the close friends had turned their platonic relationship into a romantic one.
"Everyone wants us to be a couple so bad," Rachel said during an August episode of the "Almost Famous" podcast.
Rachel added, "I feel like we always address the rumor over and over again, but we're still not a couple. We're friends."
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The podcast's co-host Ashley Iaconetti, however, wasn't buying it.
Ashley pointed out how Rachel and Blake "look really cute together" and so it's hard to believe the pair never made out, at the very least, during one of their hangout sessions or the wildlife conservation trip they had taken together in 2023.
"You've definitely made out!" Ashley quipped.
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But Ashley asked what would happen if kissing Blake ended up being really good.
"Maybe we should!" Rachel replied.
"I love [him]. He's my most solid guy friend. I go to him for everything," she explained. "So I'm also like, 'Who would I go to then if we had that weird kiss, and then things got awkward?'"
Ashley, who married her longtime best friend Jared Haibon after years of pining for him, advised Rachel to "do it now" before things could get really awkward.
"One day," Rachel responded.
Rachel and Blake both appeared on Season 9 of Bachelor in Paradise in 2023. The pals chose to leave the show after not finding a serious and potentially lasting connection.
"We went to Paradise together. We've been friends and have done trips for over a year," Rachel shared of her dynamic with Blake. "If it was meant to be, I think it would have happened."
Rachel also apparently thought that ABC was going to name Blake The Bachelor star for Season 29, which will star Grant Ellis and air in early 2025.
The Season 19 The Bachelorette star admitted to Ashley she "actually was surprised" that ABC didn't choose Blake as their new leading man.
"I thought he was [going to be it]," Rachel noted.
"There's always speculation, and I think they talk to so many people. I think he would be such a good Bachelor. I want to watch wildlife dates."
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"I agree," Rachel concluded.
"Maybe one year, at another time [Blake will be the Bachelor]. I feel like Grant is another good pick too, but I don't know him at all. I don't know anything about him."
On one Instagram photo of Blake and Rachel together, Rachel commented on Blake's post with four heart emojis, which got fans buzzing about the status of their relationship.
But then Blake quickly shut down all the dating speculation.
In response to Rachel sending love, Blake wrote, "Rachel, [I] went on the bach with a chance to find a partner. Instead found a sister."
The fact Blake called Rachel his "sister" definitely implied that he didn't view her in a romantic light.
Rachel is still single after appearing on several The Bachelor spinoffs.
Rachel first competed for Clayton Echard's heart on The Bachelor's 26th season, and after she had her heart broken by Clayton, she co-starred on The Bachelorette's nineteenth season alongside Gabby Windey.
Rachel got engaged to Tino Franco at the end of her season, but they broke up before After the Final Rose aired because he had cheated on her with another woman.
Rachel went on to appear on Bachelor in Paradise's ninth season, where she had romances with Sean McLaughlin, Brayden Bowers, Jordan Vandergriff and Tanner Courtad.
None of those relationships worked out, however, and Rachel admitted this past summer on the "Bachelor Happy Hour: Golden Hour" podcast that dating just wasn't her priority at the time.
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Blake, meanwhile, admitted in May 2024 that he was feeling "lost" trying to navigate his dating life after multiple stints on reality television.
Blake had dated Clare Crawley and Tayshia Adams on The Bachelorette's sixteenth season, and then he appeared on Season 17 of the show and got engaged to Katie Thurston.
Blake and Katie announced their split not long after the finale aired in October 2021, and then he went on to date Jess Girod on Bachelor in Paradise.
But Blake and Jess broke up before Fantasy Suites because she struggled to picture him as her future husband.
"I'm a confident guy, but this is one avenue right now I'm a little lost in trying to navigate," Blake told Susan and Kathy on the "Golden Hour" podcast.
"Because it is extremely difficult, and I don't have the answer right now," he added.
Susan suggested that Blake needs to find a woman who would enjoy doing the same kind of work for animals.
"Definitely would help!" Blake acknowledged. "There are just definitely slim pickings."
Kathy voiced how the right person will probably come Blake's way as long as he continues to focus on his passions, and The Bachelorette alum confirmed, "Yeah, that's the way I'm looking at it, for sure."
Blake said he's looking for a woman "who is very established and knows what they want, and is independent and has a life that they're pursuing and is passionate about something."
Blake elaborated, "But on the flipside, if someone wants to be a part of the stuff I'm doing and wants to take on that journey with me, too, come along!"
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About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski