Speaking out. Bachelorette star Tino Franco‘s dad, Joe Franco, has opened up about his son’s transgressions following a messy public breakup from Rachel Recchia.

“Nobody’s perfect. We make mistakes,” Joe, who appeared on Bachelorette season 19 during the hometown dates, shared via Facebook on Thursday, September 22. “We say wrong things. We do wrong things. We fall. We get up. We learn. We grow. We move on.”

Joe is seemingly referring to the bombshell dropped during the Bachelorette live finale on Tuesday, September 20, in which Rachel, 26, revealed that Tino, 28, had cheated on her during their now-broken engagement. Tino, for his part, admitted to kissing another girl. However, he said the transgression made him realize that he truly loved Rachel and wanted to be with her.

“I messed up, and I kissed another girl,” Tino told Rachel during one of their happy couple weekends, which was filmed for the show. “The second I did, I knew I belonged with you, and this was the tiniest thing ever, so I just tried to … get past it.”

Following his confession, it wasn’t smooth sailing for the former couple. Rachel had no intentions of reconciling after his admission of guilt.

“We were in a bad place, but … never once did we say we are broken up,” the pilot told her ex. “You broke my heart! … What you did is absolutely inexcusable.”

Bachelorette's Tino's Dad Defends His Son's 'Mistakes' Amid Rachel Split
Craig Sjodin/ABC via Getty Images

Their split came weeks after Rachel traveled to Tino’s hometown in California during the show’s September 7 episode, and met with his parents, whom she claimed “hated” her.

“I don’t feel like my dad gets me as much in the relationship sphere,” Tino explained to Rachel after their date. “It’s not, like, you. They’re really just skeptical of the situation. … But they know me, and they know, I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t see you as the future.”

Throughout their journey, the general contractor assured Rachel that his family would “come around” and grow to love her like he did. Unfortunately, things didn’t work out in their favor.

Amid the drama that continuously went down between Rachel and her former fiancé on the Bachelorette, Tino’s dad Joe was vocal on Facebook about his thoughts on the series as a whole.

“Our oldest son is on the Bachelorette, and got the ‘first impression rose’ whatever that is. Never have seen the show,” he shared in a July 11 post, referring to KTLA 5’s host Sam Rubin‘s commentary on the contestants. “Not sure how we feel about the idea of finding your soul mate on TV and Sam’s right, it’s a bit cheesy, but nothing wrong with a little fun — It’s not 60 Minutes. Let’s hope Tino doesn’t bring shame on the name, and above all, he may not be welcomed back home if he cries on the show! But we love him anyway.”