The former franchise lead also revealed that she's dating after her split from Tino Franco.
Rachel Recchia is doing her best to support Gabby Windey amid her split from Erich Schwer. The reality star appeared on the latest episode of the Bachelor Happy Hour podcast, and reacted to the news of her co-Bachelorette lead's called-off engagement.
"She is so busy right now, which in a way I'm super grateful for this for her, because I think it's really helpful to throw yourself into something," Rachel said, alluding to Gabby competing on Dancing With the Stars. "She really is practicing all day, every single day."
"As much as we can talk and exchange texts we do, and I go and support her in person really any chance I can get," she continued. "Whatever support and whatever she needs right now, I'm going to try to give to her, just because we all know how difficult it is, especially in the public eye."
Rachel added that she's "just grateful [Gabby] has something to focus on instead of just whatever is happening behind the scenes."
News of Gabby and Erich's split broke earlier this month, with multiple outlets reporting that the pair had called off their engagement two months after The Bachelorette's season finale aired. Neither Gabby nor Erich has publicly spoken out about their breakup, which came after Gabby did not wear her engagement ring on DWTS.
"I think life is just really busy for the both of us right now, so I understand their concern," Gabby told Fox News Digital after rumors of trouble in paradise started to circulate. "But we’re just kind of, you know, going forward with each of our individual interests and supporting each other from afar."
As for Rachel's romantic life, she told podcast hosts Becca Kufrin and Michelle Young that she recently went on a first date with a mystery man who slid into her DMs.
"I'm obviously taking it slow," Rachel said of dating, following her own split from Tino Franco after his cheating scandal, "but I actually did go on a date last week. It did go well and there is a second date in the future. We just went and got coffee. Just casual."
Rachel described the man, whom she said is in the music industry, as being "very different" from her usual type, noting, "It's so nice. Sometimes you have to explore and see."
While the date went well -- with Rachel even teasing that there "maybe" was a kiss -- the pilot almost backed out of going.
"I was at Michelle's house right before it happened. I was like, 'I can't go! I don't know how to date not on a camera,'" she joked. "I'm like, how do you date outside of sitting down and being like, 'Tell me everything about your life right now in these next five minutes. Go.' Do I give him a date card? Do I say, 'Meet me at the coffee shop, xoxo Rach'? Like, what do I do?"
Things did end up going well with the mystery man, but should it not work out with him, Rachel, who recently moved to Los Angeles for a "fresh start," is keeping her dating options open, including to those in Bachelor Nation.
"I think there is a certain level of comfort with people who know exactly what we've been through and being able to date... But someone has always dated someone who's someone's ex, so it can get pretty tricky in Bachelor Nation, since we've all dated each other," she said. "I think I would be open to that future, but who knows?"
When ET spoke with Rachel after her and Tino's split, she revealed why she didn't regret her time on The Bachelorette, even though it didn't end how she had hoped.
"Every decision I made was the absolute right decision for me in the moment," she said. "Of course, looking back, there's so many things I could have changed. I was so far from being perfect, as hard as I might have tried, but I think just so many lessons that we are going to be able to use for the rest of our lives... We just did the best we could and really tried to follow our hearts the entire time."
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