The Bachelorette 19 winner Tino Franco has shared how he feels about his ex-fiancee, Rachel Recchia, looking for love on television for the third time via Bachelor in Paradise.
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Rachel, 27, and Tino, a 29-year-old general contractor from California, got engaged at her Final Rose Ceremony of The Bachelorette's nineteenth season.
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But Rachel revealed on The Bachelorette: After the Final Rose, which aired in September 2022, that she had to call off her engagement and split from Tino because he had been unfaithful to her and failed to fully explain himself or offer a sincere apology for kissing another woman.
After experiencing heartbreak on Clayton Echard's The Bachelor season and losing Tino shortly after accepting his marriage proposal on The Bachelorette, ABC revealed Rachel will be appearing on Bachelor in Paradise's ninth season, which premieres Thursday, September 28 at 9PM ET/PT.
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"I'll probably watch because I heard rumors that [Aven Jones] and [Tyler Norris] and a couple of the guys I liked from my season went down," Tino told The Bachelor alum Courtney Robertson on the August 23 episode of her "After Reality" podcast.
"So I'll be rooting them on, and if [Rachel] thinks she can find love [on Paradise] after everything she's been through, I mean, good for her," he added with a laugh.
Tino proceeded to give Rachel props for putting her heart on the line again.
"One thing, I think -- whether you like her or dislike her -- you've got to give her credit for is there's no quit in her. I'll be watching, but, you know, I'll be focusing on and rooting for the boys," Tino shared.
Tino apparently has hope that Rachel will end up with the man of her dreams.
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"I was in love with the idea, more than the person... She's perfect for somebody else out there," Tino said.
ABC released a trailer for Bachelor in Paradise during the The Bachelorette's Season 20 finale on August 21, and in the promo, Rachel is shown kissing Jordan Vandergriff, a suitor whom she had sent packing during Week 2 of her joint The Bachelorette season with Gabby Windey.
"This is crazy -- getting a second chance," Rachel tells the cameras. "I think things happen for a reason."
And Bachelor in Paradise host Jesse Palmer also teased during the finale that something may have happened between Rachel and The Bachelorette 20 villain Brayden Bowers. In fact, Rachel and Brayden were sitting next to each other in the live studio audience.
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Although Tino has yet to find his person, he said he doesn't regret his breakup with Rachel because staying together would've been a waste of time for them both.
Tino admitted that he and Rachel no longer speak and that they're simply not right for each other.
"It's hard to regret telling her [about the kiss]. I think if I would've done it over again, before I went off and got drunk and kissed somebody else, I would've just broken it off there, like, if I had a magic time machine," Tino told Courtney on her podcast.
"If I'm in the situation where I already did my stupid thing -- knowing that what I did was, to a lot of people, [a] pretty gray area or not even something wrong and getting the electric chair for it on national TV, yeah, I mean, it's hard to say I would've done everything [the same]. I mean, the punishment was so absurd."
Tino didn't think what he did was "definitively cheating," but he also acknowledged it "wasn't cool" to do.
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When Rachel spoke to Becca Kufrin about her love life during a November episode of the "Bachelor Happy Hour" podcast, she said she'd only be interested in a stint on Bachelor in Paradise if her bestie Michelle Young -- who starred on The Bachelorette's eighteenth season and is single after her split from Nayte Olukoya -- would join her on the beach in Mexico.
But Rachel said at the time she'd "absolutely" star on The Bachelorette again if the show could provide her with her perfect match.
For Tino's part, he told Nick Viall on an October 2022 episode of "The Viall Files" podcast that he couldn't see himself ever going on Paradise.
"We all saw how sweaty I was [on After the Final Rose], so I'd be in a tough position there. But at least at this moment, I really think in Bachelor-Nation terms, if it's not Rachel, it's nobody. But, you know, we'll kind of see," Tino said.
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Tino insisted at the time that he "really, really loved Rachel through the whole process" and he still thought about her every day.
"It's just after everything that has transpired, I think the best way to put it is -- I've moved on. We really, really fell extremely in love and it was something beautiful that I haven't experienced," Tino explained.
Tino, however, noted there "is somebody who is just more compatible for" Rachel out there.
"I'll always care about her and appreciate our time together, and she set the bar really high for my future fiance. I really appreciate the hell out of her," he shared in late 2022.
Around the same time, Rachel complained on the "Off the Vine with Kaitlyn Bristowe" podcast how she just wants a commitment from a man and to be done with dating.
"The fact that I find myself now in the same position [as I was in before The Bachelor], I'm like, 'I don't want to do this.' I wanted to find my person," Rachel vented.
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"I want to get married, I want to start a family. That's where I'm at in my life. I don't want to go back to the streets, and now I'm forced to! Literally!"
Rachel had extremely emotional journeys on The Bachelor's 26th season as well as her own The Bachelorette season.
Clayton had slept with both Rachel and Gabby and expressed his love for them in the Fantasy Suites, only to brutally dump them -- simultaneously -- for the woman he was supposedly "the most" in love with, Susie Evans.
On The Bachelorette's nineteenth season, Rachel thought she had found her happily ever after with Tino, but the pair broke up during a "Happy Couple" visit in August 2022 because Tino had kissed another woman at a bar in July.
"I hope people who have made a mistake like me don't think they're doomed to that fate or to that [identity] because they had a low-character moment," Tino told Nick Viall after the scandal made headlines.
"I certainly believe it doesn't mean you're doomed to low character forever."
During his "The Viall Files" interview, Tino recalled why exactly his relationship with Rachel had fallen apart and why he ultimately cheated on the flight instructor.
Tino also revealed he had locked himself in a bathroom before his After the Final Rose appearance to cry and he initially thought -- after his cheating scandal -- that Rachel wanted to work things out with him.
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