As Bachelor Nation still reels from the Tuesday, September 20, season finale, one key question remains — will Rachel Recchia and Aven Jones date following her split from Tino Franco?
“Right now, we are going to see where things go,” the 26-year-old flight instructor said on Live With Kelly and Ryan on Wednesday, September 21.
Fans watched Rachel’s runner-up join her and Tino, 28, during After the Final Rose as the former couple argued over what led to their broken engagement.
“You don’t really deserve any of this,” Aven, 28, said. “Anything that happened between any of us. I was just wondering if you wanted to maybe get out of here and just catch up?”
Rachel told her former suitor that she would “love nothing more,” leaving Tino on stage with Jesse Palmer.
“We went outside to talk without the microphones on,” Rachel told Kelly Ripa and Ryan Seacrest on Tuesday. “He wanted to support me through this hard time. He has been so incredible.”
When the American Idol host asked, “Did you go on a romantic date?” Rachel responded: “We didn’t, but maybe we will.”
The Bachelor season 26 alum sent Aven home during part one of the finale, which aired on September 13, after he hesitated about wanting to get engaged. After watching Tino get down on one knee during part two of season 19’s conclusion, fans learned that they had split while the show was airing. Tino admitted to kissing another girl as he and Rachel struggled with “growing pains” over the summer.
“I messed up and kissed another girl, but the second I did I knew I belonged with you,” he said before hinting at their issues. “The stuff you said hurt so much. You said, ‘I don’t know how this is going to work … I can’t do happy couples this weekend like we planned.’ … I was under the impression we were pretty much done. But then we started on the right trajectory.”
During their live reunion, Rachel noted that they “both don’t want to air out” the reasons behind their initial struggles post-show. “There were things that they cut out that we both know maybe led to us being in this bad place,” she said.
The twosome went on to argue over whether they were on a “break” when Tino made his mistake.
“I never said that my engagement was over. We were never on a break. … You broke my heart!” Rachel insisted. “We’re up here and nothing is making sense to me still. … What you did is absolutely inexcusable.”
During an appearance on Good Morning America after the live taping, Rachel reiterated her feelings that Tino never formally apologized.
“I really did try, and I don’t think anyone deserves to ever go through what I went through,” she said. “Especially the fact that all I wanted today was just kind of, finally, an apology — and finally, for him to own up to it.”
