‘Bachelorette’ Recap: Erich Is Gabby’s Only Suitor Remaining as Rachel Falls for Tino and Aven — and Zach Calls Her ‘Inauthentic’

Credit: ABC/Craig Sjodin; ABC/Ricky Middlesworth; ABC/Craig Sjodin

‘Bachelorette’ Recap: Erich Is Gabby’s Only Suitor Remaining as Rachel Falls for Tino and Aven — and Zach Calls Her ‘Inauthentic'

The fantasy suites weren’t exactly a fantasy for Gabby Windey. The co-lead and Rachel Recchia’s overnight dates with their respective final three aired on Monday, September 5, and Tuesday, September 6. The ICU nurse kicked off her time in Mexico on a high note with Erich. While the twosome are clearly falling for each other, Gabby revealed that she wasn’t telling anyone “I love you” until there was one suitor left after what happened with Clayton Echard on The Bachelor. After an emotional goodbye, Erich, who was struggling over her going on dates with Johnny and Jason, wrote Gabby a note to meet her on the bridge. “Our last date — the day part was amazing. The night part, I couldn't imagine that going any better. And I'm now sitting here picturing the girl that I'm in love with doing that with somebody else, like, that kind of crushes me,” Erich said. Gabby got visibly frustrated, revealing that the twosome had this conversation in private. “Erich expressed to me in the fantasy suite that this week feels like I'm cheating. And now I feel like we're rehashing the conversation and I'm being pressured,” she said. “Him being like, ‘I don't want you to have what we have with somebody else,’ that’s, like, not for you to say. You're here knowing that I could have it with somebody else.” The pair left on rocky terms but what Erich didn’t know is Gabby had already sent Johnny home because he wasn’t ready to propose. When she learned Jason was having similar doubts, she got upset again. “I feel so stupid. I thought I knew [Jason], like, I really don’t,” she told the cameras. “I’ve tried so hard to not be reckless with other people and he was reckless with me. He never loved me, so what were we doing? It’s not even that he didn’t want an engagement — he didn’t want me. How do you just keep trusting? Johnny also doesn’t want me. Is it me? I don’t know what it is about me that’s so hard to love. … What if Erich decides I’m not for him. Am I too broken for anyone to love?” Rachel, meanwhile, started her week with a fun date with Aven, telling the sales executive that she was “falling in love” with him. During her second date with Tino, she was still reeling over feeling like his family didn’t like her. The general contractor pulled out all the stops to try to convince her that wasn’t the case. “I don't feel like my dad gets me as much in the relationship sphere,” Tino said. “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.” [sendtonews type="float" key="GQm0T5Hszv-2832058-14453"] When the pilot asked whether his parents would be mad if they called them and said they were engaged, Tino insisted that they’re “not going to be mad,” adding, “I know they are going to come around. End of story.” Before heading into their suite, Tino told Rachel he was “in love” with her — and she said it back. “I love you too. I really do,” she said. “It's been me waiting for this declaration for so long and then all of a sudden, I hear it. And it feels so amazing to hear him say that and to say it back? It’s a huge moment in your life.” Things ended on a sour note, however, as Zach accused Rachel of acting differently when the cameras left during their overnight portion. “It was just her and I talking, and it felt like she was just, like, not showing her true self. It was very inauthentic sometimes,” he alleged, telling Jesse Palmer that he felt “blindsided” by her comments, including Rachel blaming her hesitation on their one-year age difference. “I thought I saw this future with her.” During the rose ceremony, Zach asked to talk to Rachel. Before fans could see their conversation, however, the show cut to Jesse on the Warner Bros. lot. “Things have just been so emotional. They've been so dramatic for both Gabby and Rachel that we felt it was right to take a moment and to prepare ourselves for the shocking events that are about to take place. Events that are going to change both Rachel's and Gabby's lives forever,” the host said, teasing the most “emotional” and “shocking” live finale of all time. The two-part finale of The Bachelorette begins Tuesday, September 13. Scroll through for more highlights from the fantasy suite dates:

Credit: ABC/Craig Sjodin; ABC/Ricky Middlesworth; ABC/Craig Sjodin

‘Bachelorette’ Recap: Erich Is Gabby’s Only Suitor Remaining as Rachel Falls for Tino and Aven — and Zach Calls Her ‘Inauthentic'

The fantasy suites weren’t exactly a fantasy for Gabby Windey. The co-lead and Rachel Recchia’s overnight dates with their respective final three aired on Monday, September 5, and Tuesday, September 6. The ICU nurse kicked off her time in Mexico on a high note with Erich. While the twosome are clearly falling for each other, Gabby revealed that she wasn’t telling anyone “I love you” until there was one suitor left after what happened with Clayton Echard on The Bachelor. After an emotional goodbye, Erich, who was struggling over her going on dates with Johnny and Jason, wrote Gabby a note to meet her on the bridge. “Our last date — the day part was amazing. The night part, I couldn't imagine that going any better. And I'm now sitting here picturing the girl that I'm in love with doing that with somebody else, like, that kind of crushes me,” Erich said. Gabby got visibly frustrated, revealing that the twosome had this conversation in private. “Erich expressed to me in the fantasy suite that this week feels like I'm cheating. And now I feel like we're rehashing the conversation and I'm being pressured,” she said. “Him being like, ‘I don't want you to have what we have with somebody else,’ that’s, like, not for you to say. You're here knowing that I could have it with somebody else.” The pair left on rocky terms but what Erich didn’t know is Gabby had already sent Johnny home because he wasn’t ready to propose. When she learned Jason was having similar doubts, she got upset again. “I feel so stupid. I thought I knew [Jason], like, I really don’t,” she told the cameras. “I’ve tried so hard to not be reckless with other people and he was reckless with me. He never loved me, so what were we doing? It’s not even that he didn’t want an engagement — he didn’t want me. How do you just keep trusting? Johnny also doesn’t want me. Is it me? I don’t know what it is about me that’s so hard to love. … What if Erich decides I’m not for him. Am I too broken for anyone to love?” Rachel, meanwhile, started her week with a fun date with Aven, telling the sales executive that she was “falling in love” with him. During her second date with Tino, she was still reeling over feeling like his family didn’t like her. The general contractor pulled out all the stops to try to convince her that wasn’t the case. “I don't feel like my dad gets me as much in the relationship sphere,” Tino said. “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.” [sendtonews type="float" key="GQm0T5Hszv-2832058-14453"] When the pilot asked whether his parents would be mad if they called them and said they were engaged, Tino insisted that they’re “not going to be mad,” adding, “I know they are going to come around. End of story.” Before heading into their suite, Tino told Rachel he was “in love” with her — and she said it back. “I love you too. I really do,” she said. “It's been me waiting for this declaration for so long and then all of a sudden, I hear it. And it feels so amazing to hear him say that and to say it back? It’s a huge moment in your life.” Things ended on a sour note, however, as Zach accused Rachel of acting differently when the cameras left during their overnight portion. “It was just her and I talking, and it felt like she was just, like, not showing her true self. It was very inauthentic sometimes,” he alleged, telling Jesse Palmer that he felt “blindsided” by her comments, including Rachel blaming her hesitation on their one-year age difference. “I thought I saw this future with her.” During the rose ceremony, Zach asked to talk to Rachel. Before fans could see their conversation, however, the show cut to Jesse on the Warner Bros. lot. “Things have just been so emotional. They've been so dramatic for both Gabby and Rachel that we felt it was right to take a moment and to prepare ourselves for the shocking events that are about to take place. Events that are going to change both Rachel's and Gabby's lives forever,” the host said, teasing the most “emotional” and “shocking” live finale of all time. The two-part finale of The Bachelorette begins Tuesday, September 13. Scroll through for more highlights from the fantasy suite dates:

Credit: ABC/Ricky Middlesworth

Aven

Kicking off her overnight dates with Aven, Rachel told him that she felt so accepted by his family — and that she was falling in love with him.

“I was nervous to say anything back to you [on your hometown date] just because on my last journey, I feel like that word was really carelessly thrown around,” Rachel said, referring to Clayton. “And what that word means to me is huge. And, of course, I know it means the same to you and you would never use that word if you weren't absolutely feeling it, which is why I'm comfortable saying that I am falling in love with you.”

Credit: ABC/Ricky Middlesworth

Tino

During Aven’s date, Tino admitted to Jesse that the overnight dates are “trying [his] patience” as he knows “this week’s going to be awful but it’s going to end amazingly.” 

“It’s mind-boggling to me, like, she's not sure at this point. I certainly don't need to sleep with anybody else,” he said. “And I'm certainly worried that my family being so skeptical could weigh in on her decision.”

During his date, however, he reassured her that his parents would be happy if they got engaged and they exchanged “I love yous.”

Credit: ABC/Ricky Middlesworth

Zach

Rachel called her overnight week a “dream” after her dates with Aven and Tino. During her date with Zach, however, she admitted to the cameras that she was “very confused” because of her strong contestants with her other two suitors. Rachel still invited Zach into the fantasy suite and the next morning, Zach admitted the night wasn’t what he expected.

“We’re one step closer to engagement and we're having an important conversation about religion, politics, all that stuff,” Zach said. “And Rachel brought up her fear that, maybe, I’m not ready for a commitment like marriage at this early of an age. And I was like, ‘Don't worry about that. I'm here for you.’ But then she got really out of it, like, ‘Are you ready?’ … We were two strangers. I don't know what it could be. But Rachel's concern came out of nowhere.”

Credit: ABC/Ricky Middlesworth

Johnny

Going into her date with Johnny, Gabby admitted to Rachel that she felt like the two were at different stages of their lives. While she called their relationship “so easy and effortless,” she sent him home when he admitted that he wasn’t ready to propose.

“I just don't know if I can get to an engagement in the next week or so. It's not that I don't like you or I’m not falling for you or it's not that I can't see myself with you — it's more so just, like, it scares me,” he said before he left. “And I don't know if I can bring 100 percent to the table and commit to that end result if I’m not ready.”

Credit: ABC/Ricky Middlesworth

Jason

Going into his overnight date, Jason admitted to Jesse that he wasn’t ready to propose either. Gabby, still reeling from her drama with Erich, told the cameras that she is falling in love with Jason, but wasn’t sure where he stood — and when he told her, she was upset.

“To be, like, completely transparent and honest, I don't think I'm fully there yet. I think it's because in this environment, it’s, like, constantly in my head, ‘What's real? What's not real?’ I'm questioning so many things,” Jason said. “I don't think another seven days I'll be ready for [a proposal]. … I’m more of a realist.”

Gabby walked away from Jason, admitting she wanted him to “play along” for “a second” when it comes to the show. They then agreed to talk about things without the cameras in the fantasy suite. The next morning, however, Gabby was “hurt and devastated” after they talked “in circles” all night and agreed it wasn’t “meant to be.” The two said goodbye for good the next morning after Gabby told him she felt like he led her on.

Credit: ABC/Ricky Middlesworth

Erich

During part two, Erich admitted that his “biggest fear” is losing Gabby.

“I know how special our date was and for her to experience that with somebody else now — at this point — just feels weird,” he told the camera, unaware of Johnny’s exit. “This has been, like, by far the hardest week because I have told her how I feel, truly. Now to feel this strongly about somebody and now that you can lose that person? That's a horrible feeling.”

After Jason left, Gabby informed Erich about what happened with the other men and revealed that she loves him. The twosome embraced but based on the teaser for the finale — the drama isn’t over as Erich still isn’t sure about getting engaged.