Rachel Recchia Breaks Silence After Controversial "Bachelorette" Finale Airs

The highly anticipated finale of "The Bachelorette" aired last night, September 20, and it may have been the most dramatic season in the history of the franchise.

After reliving the heartbreak, Bachelorette Rachel Recchia is speaking out for the first time.

Ending in controversy and heartbreak, the "After the Finale Rose" episode left viewers in shock. Not only did we find out that Rachel Recchia and Tino Franco got engaged, but they soon found trouble in the waters, having to relive the entire season in the spotlight as it aired to the nation. Ultimately, we come to find out that Tino cheated on Rachel, leaving Rachel confused and heartbroken.

Trying to get the answers she felt she deserved, Rachel met up with Tino at a secret location. "I messed up. I kissed another girl," Tino began, "but the second I did, I knew I belonged with you. And this was the tiniest thing ever, so I just tried to… And, like, I'm not taking away from what happened at all and the emotional roller-coaster it puts you on. But I just tried to get past it."

Tino then opened up his journal to read back some of the things Rachel reportedly said to him that hurt his feelings. "You said, 'I don't know how this is going to work. I'm in a bad place and I can't put any effort into this.' 'I can't do Happy Couples this weekend like we planned, and if we do one, I don't want to sleep there.'" He also claims Rachel "jokingly" asked him if he'd be the next Bachelor, but she immediately shut that down by replying, "Do you want to bring that up when you answered it like you would?"

Tino claims he did not respond that way, and continues to read from his journal: "I'm giving back the ring. I can't wear it to AFR." And "I don't want to go to therapy, I don't want to talk to anybody about this." That was the last straw for Rachel.

"Tino, look at me in the eyes and do not lie," she exclaimed. "You are literally lying right now… I went to therapy, and the only reason it wasn't scheduled is because I was in LA and New York doing press, and you know that! I was exhausted, and as a good partner you shouldn't throw that in my face."

After needing multiple breaks and walking away from Rachel on various occasions during the talk, Rachel ultimately made the decision to give the ring back.

But that's not all because, during the "Bachelorette" live finale, Tino ended up coming on stage to talk with Rachel once again, to which Rachel was still not happy.

"Rachel, I am so sorry," he began as soon as he sat down on the couch. "My actions are on me and I own them completely. From the bottom of my heart I'm sorry for what I did. I'm sorry it took me so long to tell you, and I'm sorry that that meet-up came off like I was trying to put any responsibility of what I did on you."

He went on to say how he wished "everyone really got to see the love story that we lived," but ultimately brings up the ring again. "When we started letting our conversations get into 'I can't love you anymore,' and you said you didn't want to wear the ring..."

Rachel immediately interrupted, "Do you want to get into that? We were going through a really hard time and it's deeply personal to both of us. And I think we both don't want to air out why those things were happening, but we can. Do you want to talk about it?"

More back and forth happens, but ultimately the two ended on a rough note and did not work anything out.

After the nation watched the cringe-worthy conversation between Rachel and Tino, host Jesse Palmer turned things around when he said someone was there who "demanded" to talk to Rachel.

Much to everyone's surprise, out walked Aven, Rachel's runner-up, who asked nervously, "I was just wondering if you want to get out of here and just catch up?"

"I would love nothing more," Rachel said.

This all happened while Tino was still sitting on the couch.

There is no word on how Rachel and Aven's reconciliation went, but the "Bachelorette" lead posted to Instagram and TikTok, seemingly sharing with her fans that she will be okay.

The 26-year-old pilot shared a video to TikTok, showing a slideshow of photos and clips of her friends and family. The video is set to a TikTok sound that says "love is everywhere," indicating that although reliving that season was rough, and it did not end the way she wanted, she knows she has love in her friends, family, and support system.

She captioned the video, "It seems to me that love is everywhere."

https://www.tiktok.com/@pilot.rachel/video/7145693885962964266?is_copy_url=1&is_from_webapp=v1

And this morning, Rachel reshared "The Bachelorette"'s Instagram Story to her own, writing "could never do this without your continuous love and support."

Gabby Windey, the other lead Bachelorette this season, ended her season in an engagement. She is still with her winner, Erich Schwer.