Zach Shallcross Announced as the Lead in Bachelorette Finale – The Hollywood Reporter

[This story includes spoilers from the season finale of ABC’s The Bachelorette.]

ABC’s Bachelor franchise looks forward to the future on the same night, it ended its recent storylines involving Bachelorette co-hosts Gabby Windey and Rachel Recchia.

In the last three hours of the season of Bachelorette aired on Tuesday, Zach Shallcross – who was eliminated on last week’s episode as runner-up for Recchia – has been announced as the lead in the upcoming season 27 of the show. Bachelor premieres January 23. Viewers saw the 26-year-old tech executive from Anaheim Hills, California, leave the show after their fantasy movie date made it clear that Recchia was more interested to choosing Tino Franco and runner-up Aven Jones.

Shallcross told host Jesse Palmer: “I really need to take a moment to reflect and heal that broken heart. “What I learned from that experience is, it didn’t change my readiness. Now I’m more ready. It is the fuel to burn. I’m ready to find my soul mate, my best friend.” He then met many women who were vying to participate in his season.

The rest of the evening was filled with moments of tension and drama that franchise finals often bring. In the final scenes shot in Mexico, Recchia became engaged to Franco in a romantic act, and Windey accepted a marriage proposal from Erich Schwer. However, Recchia told the audience on set that Franco had previously admitted to cheating on her after the show stopped filming.

“It’s heartbreaking – this is who I think I’m going to spend the rest of my life with and start a family with,” Recchia told Palmer, adding that she’s still in great pain. Suffering from broken relationships. “It’s just trust being broken at the end of the day, and it’s really heartbreaking to watch it again and have to relive it.”

Footage of the couple’s grievances aired at her home included Franco admitting that he had kissed a woman he had met before joining the show but had not yet started dating. that time and that he reconnected with the woman after the scene ended. Franco claims that Recchia’s previous comments led him to believe she was moving on, including that she said she had contemplated not wearing her engagement ring to the show. After the last rose especially due to the difficult post-production moments they endured. Recchia countered her account of her saying she wouldn’t wear the ring.

After Recchia said that Franco never apologized, he exclaimed: “Rachel, I’m so sorry about this. I think I told you this every day. ” He continued, “It was one mistake, and I realized right away that I needed to be with you.”

Franco said he still wanted to work things out with Recchia, but she responded by removing her ring and placing it on the table, leading the crowd to cheer. “This is a big deal for me,” she told him firmly, ending the relationship. “I wanted to do this once. I’ve done.”

After watching footage of their painful exchange, she told Palmer that she had a crush on Franco but no longer loved him. Franco then took the stage to speak to Recchia for the first time since their split, telling her, “You’ve been great to me, and you don’t deserve what I’ve done.” After a heated conversation, Recchia abruptly left the taping when runner Jones surprised her on stage and asked her to go out with him.

As for Windey, she took the stage with Schwer, and the pair shared that they are still together but their relationship has been tested. The moments are tough, partly because someone he dated before the show recently shared texts where Schwer suggests he’s not fully committed to finding love. Bachelorette and more focus on it leads to other opportunities. Schwer tells Palmer that he should have made it clear to the woman that he doesn’t care about her, and Windey says she has forgiven him.

In the prequel to the two-part finale, Shallcross apologized to Recchia for questioning her character on camera, explaining that he felt hurt during their fantasy movie date when realized that she had lost interest in their relationship. “It’s a hard pill to swallow, it’s not what I thought because I saw a future with you,” he said at the time. “The reality of it is that it’s not going to happen.”

Bachelor season 27 premieres January 23 on ABC.