'Winter House' newcomer Rachel Clark reflects on her Bravo journey so far and offers a real-time update on her love life!
Rachel Clark is in love!
"I'm in love and very happy," the Winter House newcomer gushes to ET over video chat. However, the confession is a bit of a spoiler for fans of the Summer House spinoff, because the man who currently has Rachel's heart is not her Winter House love interest, Jason Cameron.
"I wasn't looking for someone 'better' than Jason, because Jason is wonderful," she explains. "In the end, I was just looking for something different, and I don't think there's anything wrong with that. I found my person, and I hope so much so that Jason finds his person."
Rachel hard-launched her new romance with interior designer Thomas Altamirano a week ago, her comments section immediately flooded with inquiries about what happened between her and Jason.
"Of course they want me and Jason to have ended up together," she reflects. "That's not what ultimately happened, eight months later."
That number is important; it's been the better half of a year since the cast filmed Winter House, and they were only together in Vermont for 17 days. While feelings definitely developed, it was in the pressure keg of a jam-packed vacation.
"Jason, he's such a kind and gracious person," she says. "I think we share a lot in common that you'll see later on in the show, a lot of things that we both share that impacted our lives greatly, and I think that's a bond that you can't replace or take for granted. So, I've seen him out outside of the show. I had a big, old party a few weeks ago and he was there, and I've seen him over the summer. We actually have a lot of mutual friends in the photography and modeling world. So it's fun just to be like, 'Oh, you know Jason? You know Rachel?'"
NYC's small art world actually brought the florist together with Thomas.
"We actually met over a year ago," she recalls. "He used to live here for a very long time, and he moved to Texas, and in that time he might have seen some other TV show that I was on... [Rachel won season 2 of HBOMax's Full Bloom] and he's also an interior designer and architect, so we both appreciate, you know, design and our beauty. So, he DMs me ... and I 100 percent responded, and he honestly had no intentions of being romantic. He was just like, 'Hey, I think your work is beautiful,' and like, 'You inspire me,' and first of all, my head went from like, 'Oh, he wants to sleep with me...' like, of course, let's be real, and we met up in New York one time he was here, and it honestly was, it was all friendly. And then he moved back [to NYC] recently, and we started hanging out, and one thing led to the other and now he's my boyfriend."
Sharing her personal life now feels second nature to Rachel, who says the response to her story -- from reflecting on her adoption from South Korea to losing loved ones -- has been overwhelming in the best way.
"The fact that so many people find that relatable, and in some way helps them feel seen? It's just something that really makes my heart really full," she says. "Yes, the show's about being entertaining and having fun, but it's so much more than that, you know? Like, we're normal people. We've all gone through things. So, I just feel like that's really like made such an impact for me."
Rachel says Kyle Cooke gave her the best advice ahead of filming: just be yourself.
"He just said, 'Don't do anything you wouldn't normally do,' and I think being authentic is so important to me," she says, "in all aspects of my life."
The authenticity shows through on screen, as Rachel seemingly lacks a poker face. She seemed confused by housemate Jessica Stocker's claims that the other women in the house -- Paige DeSorbo, Ciara Miller and Amanda Batula -- were coming off as "mean girls."
"I mean, I'm a very logical person," she says. "I tend to remove emotions from situations and just see them as they are, so when she was telling me things I was like, 'Well, have you tried? Have you done anything differently?' Clearly, you're acknowledging there is a problem or an issue, and you're not doing anything to really remedy the situation. So yeah, my face was like definitely processing what she's saying."
Jessica asked Rachel to do a temperature check with the roomies about the situation, which backfired on Jessica when Paige stormed off, upset for being labeled unwelcoming.
"You just see such a small snippet of what happened in the conversations that we've had," Rachel notes. "I listen to her. I verbatim said exactly what she said [when I let the girls know about her feelings], and, like, I have only known her for a few short days, so I don't necessarily owe her anything, except for respect and hearing her out and doing what she asked me to do."
Before Paige walked away from the conversation, she pointed out to Jessica that Rachel has felt welcomed by the Summer House trio. Rachel attributes that to her own maturity level and lived experience; she's aware some people are going to be closer than others in the house.
"I think the biggest thing for me is, I'm in my thirties, I know who I am," she says. "I'm so comfortable with who I am. I don't need anyone to like me. I'm a very sweet and bubbly person. I don't impose myself and I'm not a loud, outspoken person. I'm very observant and kind, so of course, when s**t hits the fan on the show, and people need to talk to somebody, of course, they're gonna gravitate towards people that they know, and I don't take that personally, you know?"
"I didn't take it personally at all, and like they were so warm and welcoming to me whenever I did interject myself into situations," she continues. "I overall had a really positive experience. I got along with everybody."
Rachel teases "more drama unravels" on the "mean girls" front, but hints it all works itself out in the end.
"I think we all did our best to take what she said into consideration, and move forward with it," she explains. "No one wants to make anyone feel left out or badly about themselves. So, you know, all the girls are so sweet. I feel like they really listen to what she had to say, and what she felt, and did the best that we could do in the situation."
For her part, Rachel says she bonded the most with Ciara ("I'm obsessed") and found friendships with nearly everyone in the cast.
"It's crazy, like, you're in a bubble," she notes. "Like, we're on vacation, we're having fun and having fun is tiresome. It's such a blur, watching it back. ... I talk to some of my best friends from high school and college, and we're like, Oh my god, what would we give to, like, relive our later teens and early 20s?' And I was like, never. I would never get the opportunity to do that. And like it happened.... and it hurts way more now!"
"I needed a lot of sleep after," she jokes, before declaring she'd be down to do another season -- or a season of Summer House -- after this.
"I always say I'll try anything once and twice if like it, and I liked it," she says, before teasing some fun for viewers to come in what's left to play out this season on Winter House.
"I've been sitting back on the drama, and I've been taking it all in," she points out. "Maybe I'm the drama, who knows?"
Winter House airs Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on Bravo.
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