Rachel & Clayton Appeared In A TikTok A Year After Their Bachelor Breakup

During his time as the lead of The Bachelor, Clayton Echard broke up with Rachel Recchia and Gabby Windey to pursue Susie Evans — a relationship that ultimately ended in September. Gabby and Rachel, of course, had a dual run on The Bachelorette to see if they could find love as leads themselves. However, both of their respective relationships came to an end pretty quickly. But a new TikTok post shows that one piece of the original love quadrangle is spending time together again: Clayton and Rachel.

On Feb. 1, Rachel posted a TikTok where she was sitting on a couch with Clayton. In the video, former Bachelorette Michelle Young (on whose season Clayton originally appeared) lip-syncs audio from Russian Doll, asking Rachel, “Are you gonna tell me what’s going on?”

“I would, but I think explaining it might give us both an aneurysm,” Rachel responds, gesturing toward Clayton. So, are Clayton and Rachel dating a year after The Bachelor?

The video might have subtly implied it, but it also seemed to be a playful joke — especially since they were together in a group context. In Clayton’s own behind-the-scenes Instagram story, he tagged Bachelor Nation alums Blake Horstmann and Caelynn Miller-Keyes, in addition to Michelle and Rachel. Also part of the group? Love Is Blind Season 1 cast member Giannina Gibelli, who’s in a relationship with Blake.

Ultimately, Rachel confirmed via Feb. 3 Instagram story that it was, indeed, “all in good fun.” While she acknowledged fan speculation (“u guys have me dedd”), she explained the actual context of their TikTok. “Healing and forgiveness is a lesson I had trouble learning for a long time,” she wrote, adding that she’s “not leaving this era quite yet” — ostensibly referring to being single.

Regardless, of course, Clayton and Rachel’s reunion was a pleasant surprise. And on Giannina’s TikTok, everyone got together for a video captioned, “when you get over your reality tv trauma.” So, maybe there was some good healing going on at this event, which based on the group’s social posts, seems to have happened in Carmel-by-the-Sea.

Meanwhile, on the same day as Clayton and Rachel’s original TikTok, Susie herself posted an Instagram story that some fans interpreted as a subtle comment on the pair hanging out. “Walking on the side of the street with sun not shade >,” she captioned a story post of her outside. While it could be literal, some Redditors acknowledged that the timing was, well, interesting. “People may have asked her for her thoughts and this is just her saying no thanks,” u/Ok_Professional8024 wrote. “If it is a reference to that event, then she’s implying there’s no shade & she doesn’t care. I bet her dms are flooded with messages & this could be her way of saying she’s unbothered,” u/Sadfishh67 suggested.