Clayton’s Hometown With Rachel On The Bachelor Is Going To Be Intense

Clayton Echard’s Bachelor season has finally reached hometowns, which mean we’re going to meet pilot Rachel’s parents, Tony and Mary Anne Recchia. “I hope my family can see the person I see, and can see how happy I am,” Rachel says in the sneak peek for Week 8.

Rachel told Clayton on their first one-on-one date that she’s looking for unconditional love. “I want to have a family so bad. I want to be a mom, and be married, and still do what I’ve worked my whole life for,” she said. In an interview with Tia Booth, Natasha Parker, and Mike Johnson on the Click Bait with Bachelor Nation podcast, Rachel further explained that women in her field often get "put in a box" by their male colleagues because they don’t think they can juggle being a mom and a successful pilot. “I always wanted both,” Rachel said. “I was like, 'Why can't I?’”

Rachel’s conviction likely inspired by seeing her own working mom and how successful her marriage has been. According to Mary Anne’s Facebook, she attended Missouri State University and now works as a paraprofessional aide for early childhood development at Huntley Community School District 158. She lives in Florida with Tony, who she often affectionately calls “honey” and “hubby.” They celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary in 2019, which Tony commemorated by giving Mary Anne a silver necklace. “Seriously, 25 years feels like it flew by. Love you baby!” she posted. It looks like they love hitting the town together, and they regularly attend New Years Eve bashes and go on restaurant dates and long bike rides. In April 2021, Mary Anne wished Tony happy birthday, calling him “a very special man who has been my side through a lot! Good and bad. I look forward to so many more years with you a lot.”

Suffice it to say, Clayton has a lot to live up to, and this hometown meeting will likely be a pivotal one for his and Rachel’s relationship. Compared to all the drama that’s unfolded in the house, their romance honestly hasn’t gotten a lot of screen time. But as teased in his season trailer, Clayton will eventually confess that he’s been intimate with two women, and it appears that one of them is Rachel. This obviously doesn’t go very well for him, and Clayton later admits to his own parents that “nobody wants to be here anymore.”

It’s unclear if Tony and Mary Anne find out about this fiasco when he meets them (Clayton’s confession will assumedly come after Fantasy Suite dates, which occurs after hometowns). But it looks like Tony is definitely going to put Clayton through the wringer and impress upon him that he has to treat Rachel right. “As a father you’re protective. People always have to prove themselves to me,” he tells the camera. To Clayton, he asks, “What are you going to do to not hurt her?”