The much-anticipated premiere of Rachel Recchia and Gabby Windey’s season of The Bachelorette finally aired this week.
Fans have been waiting months for this, as they have been speculating and wondering just how the show will pull off having two Bachelorettes.
As expected, the premiere was full of laughs, smiles, jokes, talking, and even insults as the men threw shade at Clayton Echard.
While the two women made their own rules and decided to cancel the first rose ceremony for the first time in the show’s history, they did still leave one thing the same as always. The first impression rose.
Gabby decided to give her first impression rose to Mario, while Rachel handed hers over to someone who she stated was her type the moment she met him: Tino Franco.
Now Tino has dished about how he felt receiving Rachel’s first impression rose on that very first night.
Tino Franco reveals how he felt being the recipient of Rachel Recchia’s first impression rose
This week, after the premiere aired, Tino was a guest on the Click Bait with Bachelor Nation podcast.
As he sat and talked with co-hosts Tia Booth, Joe Amabile, and Natasha Parker, they asked him how it felt getting that rose.
Tino answered and declared, “It was great. I had an amazing conversation with her. From the second I took her hand, it just felt so comfortable. It was so easy to talk to her. It was really nice getting that reassurance because it validated the connection I saw and had so much faith in. It was actually being reciprocated.”
He went on to talk about how you just don’t know how everyone else’s conversations are going on that first night because it’s so early in the game.
Tino also stated, “So getting that rose was a huge moment for me because I was so taken aback by how amazingly comfortable Rachel made me feel. Actually, seeing her in person, she’s beyond breathtaking. I was firing on all cylinders about how excited I could get. We were just on top of the world.”
Tino talked about taking Rachel to the stairs
Tino revealed how taking Rachel to the stairs was an idea he came up with all on his own. He knew that being back in the mansion might trigger some negative and painful memories for both Rachel and Gabby, so he wanted to make new, happy moments with Rachel.
He laughed when he said, “Thank goodness our conversation went well, or else she would’ve had two traumatic experiences on the stairs… I wanted to tackle the hardest thing first and put a positive spin on something from last season.”
While Tino accepted Rachel’s first impression rose, time will tell if he continues to get roses as the season progresses.
For the full podcast episode with Tino on Click Bait with Bachelor Nation, click here.
The Bachelorette airs on Mondays at 8/7c on ABC.