[1] This season features 26-year-old Rachel Recchia, a flight instructor from Clermont, Florida, and 31-year-old Gabby Windey, an ICU nurse from O'Fallon, Illinois.

[3] During the live finale, runner-up Aven Jones asked Recchia on a date, and she said yes, but they decided not to pursue a relationship.

[4] Windey accepted a proposal from 29-year-old real estate analyst Erich Schwer, but their breakup was announced on November 4, 2022.

[6] Windey is not the first former Bachelor contestant to publicly share a same-sex relationship following a previous heterosexual romance on the show.

In 2022, Becca Tilley, who was a finalist on Chris Soules' season of The Bachelor in 2015, disclosed that she had been in a relationship with singer Hayley Kiyoko for four years.

[2] On March 15, 2022, Recchia and Windey were announced as the Bachelorettes by Jesse Palmer during the After the Final Rose special of the 26th season of The Bachelor.

Notable contestants include NHRA drag racer Jordan Vandergriff, nephew of retired drag racer Bob Vandergriff Jr; Roby Sobieski, brother of former actress and artist Leelee Sobieski; Zach Shallcross, nephew of actor Patrick Warburton; and Kirk Bryant, assistant football coach at Texas Tech University.

Filming was reported in France, Belgium, and the Netherlands onboard the Virgin Voyages Valiant Lady cruise ship across the English Channel and North Sea.

[60] Contestant Erich Schwer faced controversy in September 2022 after photos of him posing with friends wearing Make America Great Again hats and wearing blackface in his high school yearbook emerged, with fans expressing frustration at ABC for casting yet another contestant with a racially insensitive past.

"[65] On the After the Final Rose in Clayton Echard's season of The Bachelor, Gabby and Rachel are named as bachelorettes and are telling the news to their respective families.

Some men have unique entrances, with Jordan H. presenting headphones to each woman, Mario shows his dance moves, Ethan presents apples to juggle and to impress them, Logan brings two baby chicks, a choir group from Los Angeles Children's Chorus sing "Clayton Sucks" when introduced to Alec, James holds a section of long bread with meatballs, Brandan performs his comedy routine, Tino arrives on a forklift, Jacob arrives shirtless riding on a horse, Spencer brings folding chairs as he knows their feet are hurting from standing up so long, and Erich begs both women to help him with his necktie.

The men show off their talents, some including Aven's basketball skills and Jacob explaining how he can help them save on their mortgage.

During dinner, Jordan tells Rachel that his parents divorced when he was in teens and that he feels like he raised his younger siblings.

They take part for a Pretty Woman-type media press conference with Karamo Brown from Queer Eye.

Later that night, the two attend a red carpet event at the El Capitan Theatre as they take a private screening to watch a movie of their home videos and a performance from Matt White at the top of the stage.

During dinner, Gabby opens up to Erich about how she is estranged from her mother and has not spoken to her in years, saying she often feels too damaged to be loved.

At the after party at SoFi Stadium, Aven teaches Rachel football while Gabby spends time with Tyler and Hayden.

Jason and Gabby travel to a hat store to look for chapellerie berets in Montmartre district, while Tino and Rachel dine together with crepes and wine near the iconic Notre Dame.

Nate, Kirk, Quincey, Erich, Michael, Mario, Spencer, and Johnny take part for Gabby's group date to participate the local version of kickboxing called savate inside the ship.

The eight men from Rachel's side to take part on her group date where they meet with Flora and Forrest, experts who are there to teach them how to flirt.

Gabby's group date takes them on a boat ride along the historic canals of Bruges as they eat famous Belgian waffles.

Gabby and Rachel are set to leave the cruise ship and head home to the United States to begin their hometown dates.

Gabby visits New Orleans, Louisiana to see Jason for their hometown date exploring the scenic French Quarter before venturing around Bourbon Street.

Erich brings Gabby to his home and meet his family, including his father, Allan, who is battling stage 4 cancer.

The family bond over Gabby's occupation as an ICU nurse, and Erich reveals that his mother's commitment to his father while battling cancer has given him an image of what he wants in a relationship.

Jesse addresses to the viewers that he explained the rose ceremony was edited out from the broadcast due to lack of production timing, and instead can be found at the show's website.

The next morning, Zach expresses that the night went nothing like he expected, and that Rachel told him that she believes he is not ready for marriage due to his age.

The season finale continues where the previous episode left off with Gabby upset over Erich being unsure over an engagement.

Gabby arrives to meet with Jesse during the live show before it cuts back to the final day of filming in Mexico.

Erich addresses previous text messages that he sent to an ex-girlfriend in which he told her he was going on the show purely for business reasons.