Rachel Recchia Jokes About Gabby Windey’s Reaction to Perfect Match (Exclusive)

Warning: this story contains spoilers from the first six episodes of Netflix’s Perfect Match season 3.

Rachel Recchia suspects she’ll be in some trouble when Gabby Windey catches wind of what went down on Perfect Match season 3.

In the new season of the Netflix dating series, Rachel, 29, makes her debut alongside fellow Bachelor star and ex Clayton Echard. The moment marks the first time that stars outside of the Netflix reality universe have appeared on Perfect Match.

Clayton, 32, had already been in the villa when Rachel appeared in episode 3, and after failing to make a genuine connection with the other women, Clayton decided he wanted to give things another shot with his ex.

Though reluctant, Rachel agreed to match with him — but things quickly went south just 24 hours later when Clayton decided they were better as friends, leaving Rachel in tears.

In the wake of the drama, Rachel opens up to PEOPLE about why she decided to give Clayton another chance — and how she thinks Gabby will respond.

“I don’t know if I ever really felt comfortable,” she says of giving Clayton another chance. “I was doubting myself the whole time, but I think I never really got a full answer leaving The Bachelor. And there’s always been this ‘what if?'”

“Even for the audience, everyone still wonders ‘what if?'” she explains. “And I think I knew that no matter what, I was going to get my answer. And I did.”

As for Gabby, she says her costar “does not know” about their brief rekindling, but that’ll soon change after the premiere of season 3.

“She knows now,” Rachel clarifies. “But I knew I would get probably a beating. So I haven’t told her yet, but it’ll be fine. Gabby, sorry!”

As fans may recall, Clayton and Rachel’s last shot at love on reality television ended poorly.

At the time, Clayton was the leading man of The Bachelor season 26, and declared that he was in love with his three finalists — Rachel, Gabby and Susie Evans.

He then decided to send Susie home, but later realized he wanted to pursue things with her — and broke up with Rachel and Gabby.

Susie initially refused to get back together with him, but the pair later revealed they were in a relationship on the After the Final Rose special. They announced their split in a joint Instagram statement in September 2022.

Gabby and Rachel were later announced as co-leads for The Bachelorette season 19. Gabby ended the season engaged to Erich Schwer, but they’d called it quits by November 2022. Rachel’s journey on the show ended with her accepting a proposal from Tino Franco, but they broke up as the season was airing after she discovered he was cheating on her.

Susie and Rachel then remained single after the show, though they’ve both briefly dated people, while Gabby went on to marry comedian Robby Hoffman in April 2025.

Clayton previously acknowledged to PEOPLE that his actions on reality TV end up being “accidentally chaotic.”

During an exclusive interview at Netflix Summer Break at the Santa Monica Pier on July 17, the Bachelor alum admitted, “If I have a toxic trait, it’s being accidentally chaotic.” 

“So I feel like I go on reality television with good intentions,” he said of appearing on season 18 of The Bachelorette before becoming the season 26 lead of The Bachelor. “I mean well, [but] the outcome just doesn’t end up working in the way I want it to work. But I have the best intentions.”

The reality star also insisted that he’s grown in the years since his time on The Bachelor and is now ready to find a forever love.

“I can only receive the love that I was able to give, and so I think I had a lack of emotional maturity when I was on The Bachelor,” he explained. “I’ve since developed a greater sense which now allows me to attract that energy, so I think I’m closer to being able to attract what I really desire.”

Though Clayton’s intentions were pure, his journey for love did not end as expected on Perfect Match. After ending things with Rachel and apologizing to her, he decided to leave the villa after realizing there were no other potential matches for him to explore. He walked off the show, happy that he was able to finally get closure with Rachel, while Rachel went on to match with Love Island USA alum Scott van-der-Sluis.

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The first six episodes of Perfect Match season 3 are now streaming on Netflix. Additional episodes will drop weekly through the finale on Aug. 15.