It’s been a year since Rachel Recchia stepped out of the limo on Clayton Echard’s season of The Bachelor, and since then, there’ve been a lot of roses, a lot of tears and a lot of breakups. 

“[I have] been through a full season of The Bachelor/The Bachelorette and coming out on the the side, [I’ve] learned so many lessons,” the pilot shared with Celeb Secrets reporter Juliet Schroder at the 2022 iHeartRadio Music Festival in Las Vegas last weekend. “Of course it’s not exactly where I thought I was gonna be at the end of all this and I’ve truly learned so much.”

It’s been a rocky road to finding love for Rachel. 

She fell in love with Clayton, but was heartbroken when she found out that he was not only in love with her, but also other finalists Gabby Windey and Susie Evans. 

She ultimately left empty-handed but was given a second shot at love as The Bachelorette with her bestie Gabby. 

“It’s been incredible to have Gabby with me every step of the way. I could not have done it without her,” Recchia shared. 

Unfortunately, things didn’t pan out the way Rachel wanted them to. Although she did get an engagement at the end of the show, her and Tino Franco called things off after he cheated on her with another woman. 

But despite that, the Chicago, IL native says she’s still grateful for the experience and for the franchise itself. 

“Being able to watch yourself and honestly see yourself make mistakes– It’s hard to watch but it really makes you grow as a person.”

And Rachel didn’t shy away from watching back any of the scenes that aired on her season of The Bachelorette. In fact, she liked it. 

“I do watch, I’m a masochist. I love watching the cringey scenes back, I can’t help it.”

She did admit though, there were a few times she wished she could shake herself and tell herself to stop crying a few different times. 

Watch our full interview with Rachel Recchia below and let us know what you thought about Rachel’s time as the bachelorette by reacting to this article or by sending us a tweet to @celebsecrets.

For more coverage from the 2022 iHeartRadio Music Festival, click here. Don’t forget to catch the best moments of the fest when it airs this Friday (October 7) and Saturday (October 8) at 8PM ET/PT on The CW.

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