Spilling the tea! Zach Shallcross may not have found love with Rachel Recchia, but the newest Bachelor did give an update about her next potential romance.
“Last I saw, her and Aven [Jones] had a little bit of a spark on-camera,” Shallcross, 26, told E! News in an interview published on Wednesday, October 5. “I love and respect Aven, so I want the best for them if that’s a thing. But I also just want the best for her.”
While the California native told the outlet that he hasn’t even “had his phone” since the finale aired late last month, he wants Recchia, 26, and the sales executive, 28, to be happy.
Shallcross, who was a contestant on season 19 ABC series, dated Recchia until part one of the two-part finale. The tech executive exited the reality show after claiming that the pilot acted differently when the cameras were on.
“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 to Jesse Palmer during the fantasy suites episode. Shallcross also noted at the time that he felt “blindsided” by Rachel’s actions — which included harping on their six-month age difference and not believing he was ready to propose.
The two did, however, work out their issues during After the Final Rose which aired last month. “After part one of the live finale, Rachel and I talked. We had some closure,” Shallcross revealed. “Really, I haven’t talked with her much since then.”
Following her heart-to-heart with the California Polytechnic State University alum, Recchia revealed that she and winner Tino Franco had called it quits after he allegedly cheated on her with another girl.
While the general contractor repeatedly brought up the “bad place” their romance was in when his indiscretion happened, the Illinois native was adamant in claiming that their relationship never ended.
“There was never a point where we were broken up. There was never a point where an engagement was called off. Did we have conversations saying: ‘We need to focus on dating, we need to really get to the core of this?’ Yes,” Recchia said during a September episode of the “Bachelor Happy Hour” podcast. “I never said I was giving a ring back. I never said our engagement was called off.”
Despite their rocky relationship, Recchia later revealed that she only wishes him the best.
“I wish we could have had more of that sort of a discussion, but I can’t really regret, looking back. It just played the way it did,” she shared on an episode of the “Chicks in the Office” podcast. “No, I have not [spoken to him]. Ultimately, I wish him well, but I think we’re both probably ready to move on after all of this and heal.”
When it comes to her romance with Jones, however, the Ohio University alum explained she was “seeing where things go” during a recent appearance on Live! With Kelly and Ryan.
Shallcross, for his part, has already started his journey toward love on The Bachelor, with the Austin resident meeting his first five potential matches and even giving out a first impression rose to Brianna Thorbourne during After the Final Rose.
