For Rachel Nance, Tulum, Mexico truly proved to be the perfect place to fall in love—with herself.
While the ICU nurse's Bachelor journey didn't end with a proposal from lead Joey Graziadei or a shiny new Neil Lane sparkler, she received something even more valuable. "When I came here, I thought, I'm here to find my person," the 27-year-old explained in an exclusive interview with E! News' Francesca Amiker, "and instead I found myself, which is to me worth more than love for any man, to fall back in love with yourself."
How's that for a heartwarmingly dramatic twist?
Months after saying goodbye to the tennis pro, "I'm so secure in who I am as a woman," continued Rachel. "I'm so secure in my culture, my personality, my ethnicity and my race and I love to spread love."
Plus she's sending a message that anyone who finds themselves crying in the back of a van over some guy—even one as adorable and emotionally mature as Joey—needs to hear.
"I hope that people seeing me can also understand that it's okay to not end up with a guy at the end of the day," explained the Honolulu native. "You can end up with yourself and love who you are."
We'll "cheers" to that and Rachel's other takeaway from her experience.
Disheartened by the barrage of hateful, racist DMs she received from viewers, Rachel, whose father Hakim is Black and mother Nuela is Filipino, decided to steal the audience for a second and speak out during the series' March 18 Women Tell All episode.
"I was really debating it," Rachel admitted. "Because I had been pretty silent on what I was struggling with. I didn't really tell production or tell anybody. But I thought, you know, the more I stay silent about it, the more it's going to happen. And even if me speaking out doesn't change much, at least people can maybe feel how much it's affected me."
Though, to be clear, even thought the haters gonna hate, hate, hate, to quote the iconic Courtney Robertson, Rachel is still winning.
"I'm not saying it brought me down," she clarified. "Don't get it twisted. But it's still hurtful to hear the things that people are saying and how they're so upset because of an interracial couple or because I just got a rose. It's 2024, you know, and it's very frustrating."
While it's hardly her first brush with racism, it's still "so disheartening," she continued. "And I hope just one person can watch that and maybe think, 'Wow, I should really reflect on who I am as a person,' and that's just the start of change, hopefully."
Dare we say that sounds like the hard-won wisdom of an ideal Bachelorette?
"It'd be an interesting season," said Rachel, noting that as someone who doesn't mince words, she wouldn't necessarily be there to make friends with all of her potential husbands. "I'm going to be honest, like, 'I don't like you. You gotta get out. You, you—out.' So I don't know. I'm too straightforward. I think that's what the issue would be."
She'd also likely require a crash course in all things Bachelor Nation.
"I had never seen the show," Rachel confessed, explaining that she didn't know what was going on half the time during Joey's season. "I didn't know about the first impression rose, I didn't know about anything. And I think that worked to my advantage because I had no expectations."
While Rachel's journey turned out to be pretty amazing, some franchise contestants enjoyed even more successful stints. Check out which couples are still madly in love and those whose relationships turned out to be just a sweet, sweet fantasy once they got back to the real world.