Here's Why Tino Franco Waited To Tell Rachel Recchia He Cheated
His side of the story is… something.
These roses are starting to look a little wilted. On Oct. 20, Tino Franco gave Bachelor Nation a closer look at his breakup with Rachel Recchia — but it seems just as messy as ever. During an interview with Nick Viall on The Viall Files podcast, Franco shared more details on his cheating and why he waited to tell Recchia about the situation.
ICYMI, during The Bachelorette finale, fans found out that Franco and Recchia’s happily ever after had come to an end... because Franco kissed another girl. In a scene filmed after their rose-studded proposal, he told his then-fiancée, “I messed up and kissed another girl, but the second I did I knew I belonged with you. This was the tiniest thing ever, so I tried to just get past it.” (Yes, really.)
So what’s the real story here? Well, according to Franco, he and Recchia were at a bad place at the time and they hadn’t been speaking for a couple of days — purposefully giving each other space. When Franco went out with some friends, the cheating happened. He recalled to Viall, “I was feeling really in the dumps. I just kinda gave in. I just leaned in, and we kissed. I realized really quick… that this is not who I am.”
Franco called the kiss “haunting,” but he avoided telling Recchia about it right away. “I should have told her the day after, hands down,” Franco explained. However, he only decided to tell her later when they were in a much better place.
“The saddest part is when I ended up telling her… we were at an all-time high,” he said. What pushed Franco to finally give her the truth? Recchia had texted him “I love you” randomly in the middle of the day — and he felt too guilty to hide it anymore.
Franco described his mindset at the time: “You guys can make it through this. You should tell her the truth. She’s going to be here forever.” 👀 Still, he didn’t start off by telling her the full truth. Franco segued into the conversation by saying that he “led this girl on the other night.”
Apparently, Recchia took that in stride, encouraging Franco to be more honest. “As the conversation progressed, she’s listening really well,” he explained. And even when he told her about the kiss, Recchia seemed calm (at least, according to Franco’s account). She told him, “Let me think about this” and took some time to consider things.
As we all know, Recchia eventually decided to call things off for good. And TBH, it sounds like that was the right decision for her.
