Twitter Is Feeling For Zach After He Was “Blindsided” During Fantasy Suites

During Season 19 of The Bachelorette, Rachel Recchia and Zach Shallcross quickly became early contenders for cutest couple. In fact, as far back as Week 3, fans were predicting they might end up together — a well-founded guess! The couple’s movie premiere date saw them bond over home videos and a shared childhood pastime of watching airplanes with their dads, and it couldn’t have been sweeter. “I feel like I have spent weeks with you already,” she said at the time, in tears. “This has been so incredible.”

Zach agreed, calling it “one of the best nights of [his] life.”

Later on in the show, the couple’s hometown date went just as smoothly. Rachel even got the support of Zach’s well-known relative, Uncle Pat — aka Patrick Warburton, the iconic voice behind Kronk from The Emperor’s New Groove, and Joe from Family Guy.

Their overnight date started well, too. (Key word: started!) Rachel talked about how well she meshed with Zach’s family during their hometown date — something she definitely didn’t experience with Tino Franco. “I’m feeling confident that the love has just been growing,” Zach said of his day on the town with Rachel. “And that she can, without a doubt, see a future with me as a spouse.”

But in her own aside, Rachel admitted she still had feelings for her other suitors. “It’s like, a lot harder than I ever thought ... how do I even get to a point emotionally where I can break up with any of these men who are the most incredible men I’ve ever met? I’m very confused right now.”

The morning after Rachel and Zach’s Fantasy Suites date, the confusion spread. Overnight, Zach explained, Rachel began questioning if Zach was old enough to commit to an engagement — he was 25 and she was 26 during filming. “Rachel’s concern came out of nowhere ... she was putting on a front,” he said in a confessional. “That scares me. That scares me a lot.”

He then went to Jesse Palmer to tearfully talk things out, telling the host he felt “completely lost” by the change in behavior. Twitter was pretty torn up about it, too.

While Zach resolved to talk things out with Rachel, we didn’t get to see their conversation — at least not yet, anyway. During the final moments of the Sept. 6 episode, Jesse promised that the Season 19 After the Final Rose would be “the most emotional finale in Bachelorette history.” Surely Zach and Rachel’s discussion will be part of the drama when it all goes down Sept. 13 and Sept. 20.