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Is Rachel Recchia on ‘Bachelor in Paradise’ Season 9? Why She Is Giving the Beach a Chance
Rumors swirled that Rachel Recchia would have another shot at love during Bachelor in Paradise season 9 before the cast made it down to the beach. The former Bachelorette lead is a fan-favorite and viewers hoped to see her join her fellow Bachelor Nation singles. After host Jesse Palmer dropped clues while chatting with Life & Style to Rachel’s past comments about the spinoff, fans were happy to see her arrive in Mexico!
Is Rachel Recchia on ‘Bachelor in Paradise’ Season 9?
Yes! And she’s living her best life. ABC announced the full cast of BiP season 9 on August 25, and Rachel was on the list. The other stars include: Aaron Bryant, Aaron Schwartzman, Blake Moynes, Brayden Bowers, Brooklyn Willie, Catherine “Cat” Wong, Eliza Isichei, Greer Blitzer, Jessica “Jess” Girod, Katherine “Kat” Izzo, Kylee Russell, Mercedes Northup, Olivia Lewis, Peter Cappio, Samantha “Sam” Jeffries, Sean McLaughlin and Will Urena.
In the midst of filming season 9 of BiP, host Jesse Palmer exclusively told Life & Style that fans would see “familiar faces on the beach.”
“There’s gonna be a lot of Bachelor Nation favorites from recent seasons on the show,” he told Life & Style in June 2023. “Maybe even one or two or more leads from past seasons might be joining. So, a lot of familiar faces.”
As season 9 got underway, former Bachelorette leading lady Gabby Windey told Life & Style that she is “so proud” of her co-lead, revealing, “I just want to support her. I’m honestly just so proud of her in whatever she does.”
Jesse also joked that Rachel and ex-boyfriend Clayton Echard has “been poking the bear” with their past social media reunions.
“They’ve been just doing it consistently well all off-season … In fact, they deserve to be on Paradise after all that they better be,” the former NFL star confessed.
Rachel herself dished about the possibility of heading to Mexico, telling “Bachelor Happy Hour” podcast hosts and former leads Becca Kufrin and Michelle Young in November 2022 that she would go under one condition.
“I will go to Paradise if Michelle goes with me. I will not go without her!” Rachel said. Michelle quipped in response, “We’ll see. We’ll keep talking about it. We’re having our own Paradise when we travel and trying to find Mr. Right. Who knows, we might find our husbands in Italy. But I would definitely go down and deliver a date card.”
Has Rachel Recchia Been on ‘Bachelor in Paradise’ Before?
The Chicago, Illinois native visited the beach with Bachelorette season 19 colead Gabby Windey during season 8, shortly after their season aired. A handful of Rachel and Gabby’s contestants were cast for the show, so the ladies gave their fellow Bachelor Nation women the inside details about the suitors.
During their brief visit, Rachel warned Kate Gallivan that Logan Palmer (who switched from Rachel to Gabby’s team during their season of The Bachelorette) was a “flip-flopper.”
“He was our only problem,” Rachel said during the episode. “I don’t respect Logan.”
Who Has Rachel Recchia Dated After ‘The Bachelorette’?
By the end of her season, Rachel got engaged to ex Tino Franco, but split during the finale after he revealed he kissed another woman.
Since then, Rachel has dated out of the spotlight and exclusively told Life & Style she hasn’t given up on love.
“I mean, I’m definitely just open to seeing what happens, whether it be in the Bachelor world or outside,” she told Life & Style in December 2022. “Just kind of going with the flow and seeing what happens.”
