The Fantasy Suites weren't all smooth sailing.
It's time for Fantasy Suites! On Monday's episode of The Bachelorette, Gabby Windey and Rachel Recchia prepared to take the next step with several of their suitors, all of which ET is breaking down in the recap below.
Erich and Gabby picked things right where they left off at Hometowns, and Rachel had a similarly positive start with Aven, all while Tino stewed over the implications of overnights.
Tino was, however, able to reassure Rachel on their date, just as things started to take a turn for the worse for Gabby. First, there was a heartbreaking moment with Johnny, and then a surprise visit from Erich brought all of Gabby's fears to the surface.
Two hours wasn't enough time to get through all the men, and Rachel and Gabby's remaining Fantasy Suite dates -- the former with Zach and the latter with Jason -- will air on Tuesday, Sept. 6.
Keep reading for a recap of part one of Fantasy Suite week on The Bachelorette.
Erich Is 'Obsessed' With Gabby After Their Fantasy Suite
For their daytime date, Gabby and Erich stripped down to their swimsuits and proceeded to jump off increasingly high-up platforms into the water below.
"There’s a possibility I might not be the one for her... but at this point I’m willing to throw myself at her, kind of take a leap of faith, because she is so freaking worth it," Erich told the cameras.
That leap of faith turned out to be literal too, as Erich had to help Gabby through her fear before they jumped off of the highest platform together.
"It makes me feel so loved and that we can do lots of hard things together," Gabby said in a confessional. "Honestly, that’s what I want in my husband."
After their date, which Gabby classified as "easy and natural and so much fun," the pair set off for a romantic dinner, where Erich assured her that his family was "obsessed" with her.
"And I them... I can really see myself as a part of your family," she replied, before opening up about her struggles growing up and her estrangement from her mom. "It’s just complicated and messy. Looking at your family, it’s so nice to see. You guys really are a whole, not parts of a whole."
"I can’t imagine going through what you’ve gone through and you’ve turned out so f**king amazing," Erich said in response. "You’re a beautiful person... I am in love with you, Gabby, and I do not want to leave here without you."
Gabby assured Erich that she really does "see a future" with him, telling him, "I am falling in love with you, I really am."
"I feel like I’m weightless, like the happiest person in the whole world," Gabby told the cameras. "When Erich said that he was in love with me, it felt so right... I want to shed every last wallI can see myself with him forever... For once, I feel like the future is going to be so, so good."
Both Gabby and Erich were still riding that high the morning after their overnight date.
"She is, to me, a person I’m obsessed with," Erich told the cameras, before getting candid about his only remaining fear. "... This is incredibly painful, because what if she’s falling in love with Johnny and Jason as well?"
As for Gabby, she admitted in a confessional, "I am definitely more than falling in love with Erich. I really think I am in love with him." Still, though, she wasn't ready to tell him as much.
"I know how strong those words are and, honestly, I want to be able to just tell one person at the end of this," she said. "I can definitely see it being him, but I know I have to save it for the right moment... I hope that that feeling holds up, but I’m scared that it won’t... What if I have the same exact thing with someone else? Then what?"
Rachel Is on a 'Different Level' With Aven
Rachel and Aven enjoyed a day on a yacht, where the pilot gushed about her date being "the complete package," and revealed that she was eager to share her own feelings with him.
"I do think that Aven could be the one," she told the cameras. "It wasn’t until his Hometown that I knew for sure I was falling in love with him."
Aven, who previously told Rachel that he was falling in love with her, assured her on their nighttime date that he "definitely can" see himself popping the question.
"Last week, that was really kind of the deciding factor for me," he told her. "... I can definitely see a life with you outside all of this... I’m 100 percent ready and feel ready for it, and you’ve made that very easy for me."
After praising Aven for being "open" and "humble," Rachel told him, "I am falling in love with you. I truly mean it."
In a confessional, Rachel said the whole thing felt "too good to be true," adding that she "definitely see myself spending the rest of my life with him."
She felt the same way the next morning, telling the cameras, "I’m on a different level with him right now. I’m running on a high." Aven felt it too, stating in a confessional, "I would love to be engaged to her."
Tino and Rachel Are in Love
While Aven and Rachel were busy having an unforgettable date, Tino was fretting over the pilot's connections with other men. "I can’t imagine her wanting to spend the night with anyone else," he said in a confessional. "... Even just talking about it now makes me want to throw up."
When host Jesse Palmer stopped by to chat with Tino, the general contractor got candid about his fears.
"If I wasn’t so sure that she’s future Mrs. Forever for me, this would be probably an easy week to walk away," Tino told Jesse, before stating in a confessional, "It’s mind boggling to me if she’s not sure at this point. I certainly don’t need to sleep with anyone else. I’m worried that my family being so skeptical could weigh in on her decision."
Tino's less than ideal Hometown was certainly on Rachel's mind, as she told the cameras, "We need to discuss how his family’s really not supportive and how we’re going to move past it."
After the pair enjoyed a horseback ride, hung out on a cliff, and swam together, Tino noticed Rachel was nervous, a fact she admitted to the cameras. "If we don’t find a way to solve the problem, I just don’t think I can move forward," she said.
When they sat down for dinner, Rachel was quick to question, "How are we going to get past this? How is this going to end in an engagement when I know how much your family means to you?"
" They just can’t fathom the situation we’re in," Tino tried to explain. "... They know me and they know I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t see you as the future."
As for if his parents would accept an engagement, Tino said, "I see it so clearly with you and I can’t go home without you at this point, so they’re going to have to get on board with that."
"They’re going to love you, because eventually they’re going to see the woman that I see and it’ll be impossible not to," he added. "... I love you, Rachel. I’m in love with you. I love everything I find out about you."
That seemed to assuage Rachel's fears, as she quickly replied, "I love you too. I really do."
"Moving forward with how he feels, hopefully his family will also come around," she said in a confessional. "They better, because I really do see Tino at the end."
Gabby Says Goodbye to Johnny
While Gabby told the cameras that Johnny "gets me in a way that I never ever had a man get me before," and he confirmed that the nurse "is the dopest girl I think I’ve ever hung with," their relationship would never make it into the Fantasy Suite.
The problems started after a romantic sailboat ride, when Gabby started questioning Johnny about his readiness for a serious commitment and engagement.
"I know how I feel about you. I’m so into you. The end result scares me. I also didn’t know I’d be here, on the beach with you, falling in love with you," he said, before admitting of an engagement, "It’s a hard thing to think about."
"I can see myself falling in love with you. I can see me and you being together," Johnny added, "but it’s more so of me bringing 100 percent to the table, and am I ready to bring 100 percent, and if I don’t do I drag you through that?"
Gabby walked away at that point, lamenting to the cameras about how Johnny "seems like he’s not able to commit." When she returned, Johnny confirmed as much.
"You are exactly the person I want to fall in love with and just be my person forever, but I just don’t know if I can get to engagement in the next week or so," Johnny said. "... It scares me. I don’t know if I can bring 100 percent to the table and commit to that end result if I’m not ready."
"It’s obviously hard to hear," Gabby replied. "There’s a part of me that hoped it would be us one way or the other, but I feel like we want two different things. I think if it was a different time for both of us then we could be so, so great."
While the whole thing felt like "a punch in the gut" to Gabby, she took comfort in the relationships she had with her two remaining men.
"Erich and Jason have been able to validate me in a way I didn’t know I could ask for. It is just the feeling of being in love that trumps all," she said in a confessional. "... I didn’t know that I could feel this way in such a short amount of time, but I’m hopeful I can leave here with someone that I want to spend the rest of my life with."
That person may not be Jason, though. At the same time that Gabby was saying goodbye to Johnny, Jason was telling Jesse that, when it comes to an engagement, he's "not quite there yet."
"Right now, I’m just taking it day by day and I want to be as honest and upfront as I can," he said. "... Truthfully, in two weeks it’s hard for me to see that."
The Pressure Gets to Erich
After Gabby's breakup with Johnny, she was delighted to find an anonymous note at her door, and her excitement only increased when she walked up to the meeting spot to find Erich there.
While Erich told Gabby he'd just wanted to see her, he couldn't help but confess some of his concerns while he was there. "I’m sitting here picturing the girl that I’m in love with doing that with somebody else," he told her of Fantasy Suites. "That kind of crushes me... I’m having a really hard time."
Gabby immediately seemed withdrawn after hearing Erich out, and while he insisted he didn't want to put her "on the spot," she still felt that way.
"In the spirit of being honest, we talked about this off-camera. I feel like we were able to have an honest conversation about it in Fantasy Suites," she told him, before giving viewers more details on her and Erich's off-camera conversation.
"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. "... You’re here knowing that I could have it with somebody else."
"It just doesn’t feel good right now. Why do I always have to defend myself? Why don’t you trust what we have? I feel like he was testing me and that’s not something you do to someone that you love," Gabby added. "Maybe he’s not going to be my guy after all. I’m starting to question it. I’m terrified, because what if I realize that Jason isn’t my guy either?"
The situation made Gabby come to the realization that her "person might not be here."
"It seems like the people that I want to love me never do. It’s just all coming crashing down," she said. "I hope this doesn’t end up in a big, fat dumpster fire, but right now this feels like the end for me."
Part 2 of The Bachelorette's Fantasy Suites week will air Tuesday, Sept. 6 on ABC. Keep up with the historic season by following along with ET's coverage of the series.
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