‘She is my girl for life’: Which former Bachelorette has helped Rachel Nance navigate hateful internet backlash?

Last night (March 18) during the Bachelor “Women Tell All,” third place finisher Rachel Nance finally broke her silence, standing up against keyboard warriors and sharing an extremely important message for fans of the Bachelor franchise, and that is to think before you type.

Taking the stage after her tear-jerking elimination, the Hawaii native almost instantaneously erupted in tears once again, sharing with Bachelor Joey Graziadei, host Jesse Palmer, and 16 of her fellow contestants — as well as viewers at home — some of the hateful things that viewers have been saying online about her race, culture, and overall identity.

“I’ve just been getting like a lot of hateful messages. As soon as the episode aired, there were a lot of like racist comments toward me and just, you know, calling me the N-word or calling me a jungle Asian, all because I got a rose. It’s just been very frustrating… My parents, they really enjoyed the little hometown episode, and then for them to just see people, you know, attacking our culture and attacking me. I’ve kind of been in this scenario before, but this is like a whole new level. It’s just hundreds of people messaging me stuff.”

Giving Rachel a moment to dry her tears and gather her thoughts, Jesse chimed in with a message to fans of the Bachelor franchise.

“This season of The Bachelor, the love for these women, for the most part, has been really remarkable, but for all of the love that Joey and these women have received, there’s also sadly been a noticeable rise in hate on social media… Here’s the thing, Bachelor Nation — We love your strong opinions, but I think it’s so important that we uplift these women who are brave enough to be vulnerable and to share their stories with Joey and with all of us at home. These women, they deserve our praise and not our hate.

As he mentioned, every season of The Bachelor or The Bachelorette has resulted in a great deal of chatter — both positive and negative — on social media, but with polarizing individuals like Maria Georgas, Sydney Gordon, Lea Cayanan, and more, this season of The Bachelor seems to have gotten out of hand. Asking for a show of hands as to who received a hateful message or comment throughout their Bachelor journey, almost all of Joey Graziadei’s ladies arms were in the air. Even Susan Noles and Kathy Swarts from the inaugural season of The Golden Bachelor raised their hands from the crowd, implying that they received some hurtful messages during their stint on their show as well.

With countless contestants facing backlash after simply starring on The Bachelor, The Bachelorette, The Golden Bachelor, or anything in between, it is clear that these hateful messages and comments have taken a toll on Joey Graziadei’s ladies, with Rachel hitting her breaking point during the “Women Tell All.”

Fortunately, she has not been battling this backlash alone, admitting in an exclusive interview with Bachelor Nation that a former Bachelorette has been helping her navigate these hard times. To find out for yourself who the 27-year-old deemed to be “her girl for life” in said interview, just keep scrolling…

Which former Bachelorette has helped Rachel Nance navigate hateful internet backlash?

When asked about whether or not she has been able to connect with any former Bachelor or Bachelorette contestants once filming came to a close, comparing and contrasting their respective experiences, Rachel admitted to Bachelor Nation that Charity Lawson — who ironically dated Joey during season 20 of The Bachelorette — has helped her fight off the haters online.

“Shoutout to Charity Lawson. She is my girl for life. She is amazing. Charity has definitely been a driving force for me. She has pushed me to keep my head above keyboard warriors who come at me. She told me to stay true to who I am and speak my truth. She also said it’s ok to be upset with what people are saying, but she has my back.”

While Charity has served as Rachel’s primary support system throughout these trying times, another former Bachelorette reached out and has been “so sweet” to the third place finisher: Rachel Recchia.

“Also, Rachel Recchia has been so sweet. I have been getting a lot of love, which is so nice, because these past few weeks have been tough ones for me. It has been very hard. The support from those women in Bachelor Nation has been such a game changer for me.”

Admitting that “the negativity is always just louder,” Rachel reassured Bachelor Nation that she has also seen some positivity online — despite being few and far between — from messages that praised her for wearing her natural hair to messages that praised her for shedding light on Hawaiian and Filipino culture, respectively.

Speaking from her heart during the Bachelor “Women Tell All” — simultaneously touching viewers all across America — could this powerful moment have secured Rachel’s spot as the next Bachelorette? To find out for yourself, catch the finale of The Bachelor season 28 on March 25, or stream it the following day on Hulu. Who knows what surprises are in store…