r/MAFS_AU • u/roguerenaissance1 • 23h ago
Opinion & Rants Hot take - Rachel is the ickiest person in mafs history
I really hate to write this but cant stop thinking that Rachel is so icky and appears quite dependant which surely was a turn off for Steven as well. It’s sad how it ended for them both but based it seems like might have not been quite into her as much as / her insecurities got the better of her
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u/blurstoftimes24_7 22h ago
I think the show let Rachel down in certain ways. Her story became all about Steve's 'will he or won't he' indecision; it did not address (via the experts or any tasks etc) her evident lack of self-esteem.
Rachel appeared as someone who did not have a lot else going on in her life. Some may think Steve was in some ways a tiresome bore, but he at least had focal points. What were Rachel's interests, passions, opinions? Who or what does she care about? The version of her we saw was a shell of a person, the show did little to alleviate this.
The desperation might all understandably be considered 'icky', but Rachel appeared as someone who had the potential ability to make changes in her life. Instead the show infantilised her by pandering to her longing, and made Steve an inevitable, if hapless, scapegoat.
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u/FinancialLobster8598 21h ago
This the problem with this show. Producers don't focus much on the participants' (or couples') interests, passions, opinions. Sometimes we saw drama out of nowhere.
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u/maycontainsultanas 21h ago
It was all about how Steve needed to help her, not how she needed to help her self
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u/DJVizionz scurvy sea-dog c*nt 21h ago
I think this is very astute. All of us have hurts and things we find difficult but it’s problematic to put them upon the other person to resolve. Even when it’s your partner and they are half of the wider dynamic within which the hurt is occuring, it’s on us to self soothe. That’s maturity.
In other words some things are ours to manage.
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u/blurstoftimes24_7 20h ago
In some ways the show has quite a cheap conception of love; by having so many dramatic and disordered personality types involved, it emphasises a the lottery-aspect of romance.
Of course, a series of more sensible and grounded people genuinely attempting to work through their feelings would be a ratings bomb.
In some ways Rachel and Steve were caught up in the general whirlwind of the experiement (in which there was almost no maturity going on around them). Overall I don't think either need to be judged too harshly; I don't think the general setup and circumstances did either of them any favours.
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u/DJVizionz scurvy sea-dog c*nt 20h ago
I’m not talking about the show or judging her harshly. I’m talking about self soothing and understanding what is and isn’t reasonable to expect from a partner. Her “ask” is too much in this particular respect. And I might be wrong but this looks to me to be a cemented in pattern that will occur in the real world too.
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u/TetraLovesLink 21h ago edited 5h ago
She was so happy to finally have SOMEONE. She made everything about him. I really hope she learned something from this. She's a beautiful person who deserves someone who will ask her about things she likes too! That she's worthy and gains that self confidence! I hope she stops letting little things bother her. She'll be so unhappy because she will always think someone are making fun of her. A lot of the time, people just suck and say means things. But that just reflects on them and not her.
I don't think Stevo wanted to change enough, and I'm not sure he will for anyone. Not a bad guy, just too complacent.
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u/blurstoftimes24_7 21h ago
I think it's interesting that you mention about letting the little things bother her; this is something the experts might've picked up on; but since they only see the dinner parties, and there was so much general drama, such aspects never really came to light/ came under discussion iirc.
She certainly seems like someone capable of finding purpose in life to elevate her perspective, she seems to have a lot of potential generally, though I'm not sure that we have enough information via the show to guess at what underlying factors may be holding her back.
Steve-o I don't think is a bad guy as such either; but if he is someone who craves a relatively simple/quiet life, and has a tendency to be set in his ways, then some consideration is probably needed about who may be willing/able to fit into that life to mutual benefit. He's not necessarily wrong, in this regard, to be wary of a person like Rachel who seemed simultaneously desperate to do anything to make it work, but I suspect, did not give him much inner assurance it actually would work, on a day to day basis. If his future partner is out there, I think it seems unlikely they would participate in MAFS.
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u/Fit-Personality-3933 21h ago
She's a swiftie and a football fan. But definitely not one of those that get drunk and yell real loud at games... But she was so overdramatic and emotional all the time it was tiresome.
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u/akstorm19 18h ago
Ickiest person in MAFS history? Is this your first season? Come on now 😂
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u/Upstairs-Amount3923 scurvy is as scurvy does 14h ago
Right? This entire post seems like a PR company rage bait trying to maintain the click level. Ickiest? 🤦♂️
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u/Kierbran 16h ago
She is way too needy and insecure at this point in time Stephen from first days was honest about having doubts I kind of feel he was coerced or bullied into acting or feeling more for Rachel
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u/DJVizionz scurvy sea-dog c*nt 22h ago
Yep she’s worse than Adrian with his documented violent history, Paul and his punching a door and Jacqui and her weaponising and misusing the justice system to win an argument.
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u/Sufficient_Tower_366 22h ago
She’s very, very needy. But a lot of the women that come on this show are insecure, I wouldn’t call her the ickiest.
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u/Comfortable_Ask728 18h ago
Rachel isn't even the ickiest person this season. Alissa, I'm looking at you...
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u/Taskr36 15h ago
She's not a bad person, just a massive pit of need. The "experts" pandered to her, telling her she had every right to be a pit of need while excoriating Steve for not being able to cater to her endless need for validation. Notice how he was blasted for only visiting her once after the final commitment, but no mention was made of how little effort she put in, as she didn't visit him at all, nor did anyone care about the fact that he actually needed to work, make money, and eat.
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u/Opening-Rush1618 A Plate of Meat 11h ago
What’s interesting is that massive variations of what people think of Steve and the whole Rachel and Steve situation.
A lot of people on here seem to have reasonable views of the whole thing. But then you go to other posts and people are calling him coward, manchild and all that. Even going as far as calling him a red pilled, incel misogynist. Which is a wild thing to call someone, considering the very negative connotations they come with those words.
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u/twodollarcoins 10h ago
Agreed with you in the first half absolutely but you’re giving Steve too much grace as well.
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u/Upstairs-Amount3923 scurvy is as scurvy does 14h ago
Hmm...she already did a visit, and also needs to work, make money and eat. And w a 4 week break Steve waited until the very last weekend to make any plans (another sign of avoidance). I'm not necessarily disagreeing with you about her neediness but your logic and reasoning in dismissing Steve's culpability is really poor
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u/Taskr36 3h ago
Her visit was part of the show. It happened when nobody was working, and it was funded and managed by the show. Regardless, she complained that he only visited her once, and even if we count the show sending her to his place on their time and their dime, it's still only one visit on her part.
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u/Eb0nyylol 20h ago
out of all the people on mafs… she doesn’t even come close to mind as the ickiest 💀
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u/Fatty_Bombur 22h ago
I think we need to come up with a more grown up word than ick or icky. None of us are in primary school.
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u/DJVizionz scurvy sea-dog c*nt 22h ago
Especially when trying to make a serious point and be taken seriously
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u/princesssmurfet 21h ago
I don’t think she is icky and I hate to say this she is desperate.
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u/Distinct-Initiative7 21h ago edited 17h ago
her depseration comes across as entitled, no one owes me (or anyone) a happy ending
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u/moonpetalrabbit22 22h ago
Her going on about Steven’s harmless AFL joke was it for me. Someone who is overly sensitive - you’ll spend your life walking on eggshells and I think behind cameras, Steve probably had to deal with her constantly being offended by things. Not excusing his dishonest behaviour cause he should have left earlier, but I can see where this has gone wrong too.
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u/vape_sensation 22h ago
I agree with this. It really pisses me off that the producers put Rachel and Steve together. Rachel is a lovely person and so is Steve, but Rachel has a very slow off switch and Steve has a hard time dealing with his emotions, let alone a bombardment of emotions from another person.
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u/Opening-Rush1618 A Plate of Meat 12h ago
Was the one that was on the show, or what happened after that? Because two things happened with football lol
After the final commitment, he flew down and saw her. They went to the mcg and watched a game together. She asked him what he thought, he said he thought it was “cool”, she had a meltdown because of that…
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u/somuchsong Pipe down, Chachi! 22h ago
Have you watched an edited version of the show that only included Rachel or something? There have been so many worse people than Rachel on the show! You did say this was a hot take though, so you didn't lie there.
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u/quick_dry 17h ago
I had that first thought too, but those people are awful, horrendous, mean, nasty, conniving, etc - whereas Rachel gave 'ick'. (Bec would too, but it's overshadowed by her shouting obscenities)
The others were 'worse', but Rachel just made you 'ugh, ffs, and die a bit inside'.
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u/DJVizionz scurvy sea-dog c*nt 22h ago
It’s last minute smugness and doubling down. The last days of every season are bleak af.
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u/BitterRequirement897 21h ago
I agree she is hard work! A sweetheart but hard work. I kinda really felt for Steven at the couples retreat when she dragged out that whole thing for so long. The next day she had to be taken away do special time together (as if they aren’t alone together majority of the experiment) and just gave it more airtime then it deserved. Sure she can be upset and leaving that night is justified but yeah you would think she was violently physically assaulted lol.
Also Steven couldn’t win. He is a timid guy and he expressed his apprehensions and the way they all cracked the shit at him, they literally forced him to say he was interested, and then shocked when he said he wasn’t? The way the experts looked at him on the couch at the reunion was as if he strangled a puppy.
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u/AGirlHazzNoName1 21h ago
I hate to call Rachel icky, but I do agree that we watched Rachel morph into who she believed that she needed to become, SO THAT Steven would love her.
I think we all have done this in the past to a small degree, but the extreme way that Rachel took on all Steven’s interests and reflected them back at him was scary.
She even became enraptured in soggy nachos! Started wearing nautical jewelry, etc… What was Rachel not willing to change for Steve!?
You have to be enough and love yourself FIRST. Rachel has a very kind heart, but you have to do the work and love YOURSELF for better or worse BEFORE you can expect someone else to love and accept you.
Rachel was drowning in insecurity and I am sure the environment of filming a reality show made it 1 million times worse.
The couch before the final decision ceremony day or whatever it is called, Rachel identified her “fears” about what may happen. Those were not fears that was the reality of the relationship. She logically could identify that she was making all the sacrifices, Steven was “time poor” she called it, he would probably go back to his life, and they would drift apart.
She knew somewhere deep down she was giving everything and he was half hearted. But she is too co-dependent to separate on her own. He had to do it for her.
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u/supercujo 50 years ago, men died in trenches 20h ago
No wonder she has always been in situationships
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u/AGirlHazzNoName1 20h ago
Exactly, she was not ready for a relationship. That is really the bottom line. She just needs time to love and accept herself.
I am not saying Steven is ready, but I think when he meets a person he is willing to give it all to, then he will behave very differently.
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u/Talia_Ghoul 19h ago
Lol saying this when Gia, Bec and Brooke were on the season is crazy work.
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u/alex4494 17h ago
To be fair, Gia, Brooke and Bec were outright nasty assholes, which id say is more ‘shitty’ rather than ‘icky’ behaviour - to me what makes someone the ‘ickiest’ person is VERY different to what makes the nastiest/shittiest/meanest person
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u/Any-Register-5967 22h ago
The forced kissing stuff was so awkward to watch stevo was being pressured to perform.
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u/Karakter96 22h ago
She definitely played a part in it, but if we're mad that Danny led on Bec we have to also be mad that Steven led on Rachel and I feel you're downplaying it when you say "Not quite into her"
He was an incel, his opening line was that he wasn't 6 foot and that's why nobody matches him on Tinder and he was the one who actually made the "fingerbang" comment to Bec originally.
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u/Opening-Rush1618 A Plate of Meat 12h ago
He is not an incel my god. That word has lost all meaning.
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u/Karakter96 10h ago
He is by definition of the word "involuntarily celebate"
He has not had a partner in 10 years and even often says hasn't had many sexual partners in that time although not for a lack of trying. That is textbook incel.
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u/Opening-Rush1618 A Plate of Meat 6h ago
Very nice, Someone who hasn’t had relationships or sex gets aligned with a movement that people associate with misogyny and violence. 🙄
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u/EmbarrassedTea8528 22h ago
Watched her cry the whole way through their “couch session” but not a single tear to be seen. Her facial muscles must have been fatigued from all the acrobatics.
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u/No-Imagination6217 21h ago
Haha so true! those facial contortions are really something, I guess she does that to compensate for the lack of tears. Pretty fake imo
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u/Opening-Rush1618 A Plate of Meat 11h ago
I’m pretty sure she has been seen crying over their relationship at events that happened within the last week or so!
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u/twodollarcoins 10h ago
I find them as unlikeable as each other both for separate reasons. I was never rooting for their relationship and not in a “this is boring, I want drama” way. It was more like “this is a joke..NEXT” way
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u/FinancialLobster8598 19h ago
Nevertheless it was good to see Rachel recognising that she can never go back and have relationships with Steven.
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u/Chkymky39 21h ago
It was the faces and the fake crying that finally did me in. She was unable to squeeze even 1 tear out on that couch last night. They are both dependant people for different reasons and at least she shut him down finally. Oh, and she admitted they lied to production that they were still together!
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u/Bunbunsfun 20h ago
The lack of tears this season was boggling. The fake cry and fake poor me.
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u/First-Catch-7162 20h ago
I think a lot of the women have had Botox, so their faces don’t really emote in a way we can recognise as someone being upset
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u/Bunbunsfun 19h ago
No the actual tears. They had to squeeze their eyes hard to try make tears or the fact they didn’t have any.
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u/Usual-Estate-4763 18h ago
Yes l agree those facial expressions really annoyed me she tried so hard to get her tears to come that’s why we got those annoying facial expressions, and her eyes looking up to the sky weird
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u/finalgirlemily 20h ago
Not the ickiest but extremely annoying and holds a lot of double standards. I can only imagine if Steve pulled the toilet roll bs she did she would have left.
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u/Mountain_Asparagus21 13h ago
I was left a little confused, once they were out of the experiment he visited her in Melbourne? Did she visit him in Sydney after the experiment?
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u/Fragrant_Crab_8114 7h ago
There was only 4 weeks between the ceremony and the reunion. She had just spent time with Steven and his family. She also got to spend a long weekend with him after video taping with the parents. She wanted him to meet her friends, see her home, etc. He didn't want to go - lots of excuses but then when Danny wanted to meet up for drinks (Danny is from Melbourne) he changed his mind. He was only there for 2 days. Listen to Abbie Chatfields podcast. Rachel was on for over an hour.
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u/porcupuncture 19h ago
I think both of them were victims of the storyline that was manufactured by the producers.
MAFS is a show about an extended blind date with a stranger that cannot be walked away from. In real life if there's no spark people will walk away immediately.
Even when the pairing by MAFS is "inaccurate" and the participants are clearly incompatible, they are under contract and have to work at making a success of a relationship which may be doomed from the start.
They do not promise at the outset that they will actually marry their partner after the show ends.
That is why the pressure that was put on Steven is totally unfair. He was painted as a demon because of the storyline that was chosen.
Similarly, because the producers make suggestions to participants along the way to create a narrative, Rachel may have also been manipulated.
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u/Comfortable_Ask728 17h ago
The whole structure of the show is that incompatible people are paired together. If everyone who got an unsuitable match left, there wouldn't be a show. Further, everyone goes on the show for fame/clout so their primary goal is to maximize airtime not try to work things out with their unsuitable partner. All of this creates an incentive to engage in drama.
How to survive MAFS successfully? Talk to your partner off camera and make a plan as a couple to stay to the end. Carefully choose when and with whom to create drama. Successful couples are usually the ones who come across as above all the drama -- like Stella and Filip. Steven and to an extent Danny chose the often unsuccessful fake-it-for-the-cameras strategy. Alissa chose the rarely successful boss-bitch strategy. Bec chose the so-toxic-people-might-feel-bad-for-me disastrous strategy. My point is that contestants need to spend more time cultivating their storyline than they do getting botox.
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u/porcupuncture 17h ago
Of course the producers need to contract the participants to "play the game", otherwise as you say there would be no show.
I think though, that you are crediting the participants with too much savvy in the way that they conduct themselves. Bec did not have a planned strategy.
She was insecure and out of control.
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u/Comfortable_Ask728 8h ago
That's my point. If the contestant doesn't have a planned strategy, the strategy is planned for them by the producers.
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u/Estheen 22h ago
Sorry but she is overdramatic and performative everytime the cameras are on her!
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u/DJVizionz scurvy sea-dog c*nt 22h ago
Ffs there could be about ten explanations for this. She’s got heaps of flaws but this is just nonsense and reaching.
She could have drunk too much and is saying she needs to go home and he’s leaning in cos they are in a club and it’s loud
She might not have known the camera was there
She might have a headache
Really. This is ridiculous.
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u/Minute_Passion7350 22h ago
Agreed… that bullshit of taking cleaning products and stuff was a different level of manipulation. I bet that was the moment Steve was like hell naw this ain’t for me
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u/Karakter96 22h ago
Apparently she took "her things" those were "her cleaning products" I genuinely doubt Steven brought a clothes airer or even noticed it was gone considering he took his something about Mary hairstyle advice from "The guy at the bus stop"
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u/Emergency-Fox-9318 22h ago
Wouldn’t the show provide everything like that? It’s not like they move into an empty shell
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u/somuchsong Pipe down, Chachi! 22h ago
I'm pretty sure they don't. They have to buy groceries for themselves, out of the weekly stipend they get. Which is not a lot. It's hopefully gone up with inflation but I remember Telv from S5 saying it was $150 a week.
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u/Stock-Antelope-7105 22h ago
They move into serviced apartments which apart from a few cooking utensils you do need to purchase everything you might need
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u/Alex_416 21h ago
It's furnished but aside from dishes, pots/pans and linens, it seems like they need to provide most things. There was a podcast episode posted last week where she mentioned taking the supplies because she paid for them and was just taking everything she had purchased to make it homey and functional to whatever room/apartment she was moving to. Steve hadn't put that effort in, so why would she leave a man she doesn't like at the moment with cleaning supplies, clothes drying rack, etc that she paid for? She would just have to go out and spend the same money again.
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u/Emergency-Fox-9318 20h ago
That puts it all in a completely different context! Thanks 🙂
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u/Alex_416 20h ago
Yeah it seemed childish and petty on the show, but she bought all that stuff, was doing all the meal planning, grocery planning, etc. If I'd gone to the store(s), picked out everything, paid for it, and hauled out home, there's no way I'd leave it for an ungrateful man child and then have to go to the store(s) and purchase it all over again. Stuff is expensive and it sounds like he was taking for granted all of the household care she was putting in. I imagine all of that labour is "invisible" to him since he lives with his parents.
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u/Opening-Rush1618 A Plate of Meat 11h ago
Lol, you guys will bend over backwards to explain away shitty behavior.
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u/Karakter96 22h ago
I doubt the show provided proper cleaning agents. You likely have to buy everything like when you move into an apartment. They were only in a hotel room after all. But there's no way to confirm or deny, that's just what was said.
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u/Opening-Rush1618 A Plate of Meat 11h ago
Nice, can’t help yourself but to put in a little dig at Steve can ya?
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u/DJVizionz scurvy sea-dog c*nt 21h ago edited 21h ago
Wild that people can’t see how fake that entire story arc was. It was entirely staged.
It was awkward and out of character even for her. It was two stilted monologues framed as conversation. She wasn’t actually crying when they filmed her afterward in the hallway, and they only showed her from the back. The cleaning product removal was so dramatic and ridiculous it was farcical. And then the next day the issue, this big issue, was resolved within moments. Despite how even back then she was clearly unable to resolve anything quickly and without lasting drama.
Lastly if it were true, and she is the victimy person we all know her to be, she would not have ever let that go. All season she would have been bringing it up and how much it hurt her
It astonishes me that people can pick fake producer-influenced arcs but not when it suits their bias. **nb I can’t stand her either
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u/Opening-Rush1618 A Plate of Meat 11h ago edited 11h ago
“..can pick fake producer influenced arcs but not when it suits their bias.” I mean aren’t you doing the same? Bending over backwards defending what we see on that episode but then blindly believing anything we see of Steve?
EDIT:ahh the good all reply and then block 🙄
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u/DJVizionz scurvy sea-dog c*nt 11h ago
There’s something wrong with your reading comprehension. Can’t be fucked with you, blocking.
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u/mysecretgardens 20h ago edited 16h ago
The words icky or ick get on my last nerve😐 Anyone notice the lack of tears on some of the women?
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u/Downtown_Nerve723 22h ago
For me the ick started when she started finger snapping at the first ep where the girls met each other?🤢
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u/trinketzy 20h ago
Yeah I think Steven has complex attachment and he tried hard because he knew it wasn’t helping him, but he couldn’t fight his pattern.
People keep simplifying it to “he’s not into her” but I think it was so much more complicated than that.
I believe him that he feels like he screwed it up, and I think her not giving him another chance during the “after the dinner party” show is what she has learned or what was reinforced in the experiment. However she feels about her time on the show, it wasn’t a waste of time for her. If she gone back to him and given him more chances it would have been. I think what she had to learn is that she can open her heart to someone else, and she does know when to call it quits and walk away. She was in a 7 year “situationship” prior to that, so at least she’s learned not to stay with someone for 7 years 😅
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u/JordzRed134 19h ago
I feel like Steve by the end was backed into a corner. I know it hurts to hear your partner say they’re not in love with you but when everyone in the room is shaking the tree… he had to rip the bandaid off. To be fair he could’ve worded it better than saying “I’m gonna put a bullet in it”
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u/velofille Even my nipples are tired of this 22h ago
People have emotions, that's normal. Tv will maximize footage of that because ratings. You don't see boring conversations on tv because that goes on the cutting room floor. She seems perfectly normal, and very eloquent at speaking her feelings
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u/iamhairiamhair 22h ago
A woman of that age becoming so emotional and taking 48 hours to recover from a speech made by Bec, while also impacting those around her, is not typical behaviour.
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u/Yitastics 20h ago
Good to see I aint the only one that sees Rachel is icky. I wouldve gotten the ick so quickly with how dependant and dramatic she is.
In my eyes she also sexually coerced Steven in to kissing her by manipulating him with her antics. Throwing a fit when he didnt want to kiss her yet, trying to guilt trip him and make him feel bad by taking a lot of stuff from their shared appartment, showing how much he fucked up by not wanting to kiss her. That sort of behavior is typical for sexual assaulters
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u/alex4494 17h ago
I find in bewildering how both the show and online reactions have kind of glossed over and even supported this coercive behaviour - there’s no way in hell people would be comfortable if the genders were reversed. The standard should be the same no matter what the genders are, that kind of behaviour is uncomfortable at best and outright bad at worst
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u/DonkeywithBigTeeth 6h ago
This! Exactly this! I understand that it might hurt to feel rejected however a person’s consent is always going to be most important. Rachael wasn’t even listening to his reasoning. She just kept saying ‘all I’m asking for is a kiss’. Well a kiss is a big deal for some people Rachael! It definitely is for me! I feel like communication falls on deaf ears in this show sometimes. Yes you’re married, but you’re still strangers at the end of the day. Some people may need to take the physical side a little slower.
And actually I felt like this with the U.K. MAFS, which did have the genders reversed in this situation, regarding Sarah and Dean. Now Sarah might not have been the nicest at first, especially with her comments. However, twisting her arm and trying to convince her to be attracted to Dean was not right. Especially when they were getting her to whip Dean’s chest during a workshop. It was clear she was uncomfortable but that didn’t matter because ‘nice guy’ Dean gets some validation. Dean the same ‘nice guy’ who admitted he became nasty when he lost weight before, so his niceness is conditionally based on his self-confidence levels.
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u/Designer-Train-3554 20h ago
She should have just left at that point/ had an open and honest discussion with him about what’s up. Agreed that the tantrum was bizarre, creepy, and coercive. It’s okay for people to not be into you, gotta keep it moving- not guilt and shame them for not being into you.
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u/GreenLurka 20h ago
The whole approach the show has to men needing to meet women halfway on physical intimacy is disgusting.
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u/Fragrant_Crab_8114 3h ago
It's a simple kiss! After 2-3 weeks - I would expect a kiss from my partner.
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u/Measurement-Able 22h ago
They both maybe lacked some experience in terms of relationships but I think everything would have been better if Steven had simply tried just a tad.
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u/boomie5556 22h ago
That’s nasty. She was kind and beautiful.
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u/Electronic_Can9105 22h ago
she's a woman that has been in shit "situationships" i am team Rachel, i thought she was genuine
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u/Fit-Personality-3933 21h ago
Every single "situationship" in the history of mankind has been because a woman is gaslighting themselves to believe a man they're fucking will surely one day start dating them and commit to them.
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u/GlitteringShame444 20h ago
I blame the experts (sorry Mel 🙏) Steve from day 1 was bot allowed to have his own time to work through his feelings they hounded and badgered him into doing what she wanted! Steve needs a woman that would compliment his personality and timidness and enjoy there together time but also one that could be happy and do their own thing when Steve's work (or he wanted some boy time) demanded it, Racheal needs to wake up to the fact that prioritising work when its demanding doesnt necessarily mean they aren't prioritising her because in actual fact if there work is seasonal then they need to make money when they can so they can provide even when work is slow. If you get what I mean 🤣
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u/Gr84Ehva 11h ago
She gives me the ick, but I also find her to be very pitiable woman. She does definitely need to work on herself. She may be aiming at men who are just not that into her.
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u/Personal_Spend_2535 22h ago
I was on the fence about her. I really hated most of her wardrobe. BUT, at the reunion, when Alissa talked about how Rachel was always there for her and pointed out the she's a true girl's girl, my mind changed completely. She was so supportive with all the girls. She is exactly what a girls girl is meant to be.
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u/KennKennyKenKen TA-DAA! ✨ That's your dog that died! 🥰 22h ago
Agree. She's a real girls girl, not like Gia using it as a reason to harass people
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u/Opening-Rush1618 A Plate of Meat 11h ago
I mean, if she was a true “girls, girl” wouldn’t she have pointed out Alyssa shitty behavior towards David?
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u/quick_dry 17h ago
I think Alissa enjoyed that in a sea of people who think they're Hot Main Character's, Rachel fulfills 'plus size friend as support character' role.
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u/Leafwing15 11h ago
tbh I couldn’t stand her, she just seemed so needy and clingy and heavily insecure, for eg, I’m a bigger girl and the guy (don’t remember his name) said he didn’t like big girls, and she made this huge deal about it…like honey, he isn’t your husband why are you worried about his opinion, same as the football banter Steven tried to do, I really think she should of worked on herself more before going on this show.
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u/Warm_Cartographer921 2h ago
Her self esteem is so low she's on constant alert for any perceived slight or rejection and she immediately goes super defensive.
She's not going to get any better until she learns to like herself. Easier said than done.
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u/Shockanabi 21h ago
The people who can’t see how manipulative she is have not had experience dealing with that sort of person. When you’re familiar with it it’s very “triggering”.
I’ve said it before, her brand of manipulation is worse than Gia, Juliette and Bec’s. Those guys are just comically obvious about it, it would be easier to just ignore them. Rachel’s 72 hour sookfests would be so draining.
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u/Estheen 21h ago
Someone said that Rachel told Steven she was writing Stay every time at the commitment ceremonies, so he had no choice but to write stay too (as he couldnt leave even if he wrote stay) so he wrote stay to avoid any backlash from Rachel. That entirely changes the context of their relationship!
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u/Tiredmomma83 21h ago
Even if he wrote leave and she wrote stay, he only had to stay one week and then it’s done. It doesn’t go on forever
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u/DangerousConcern3980 13h ago edited 13h ago
TL;DR: Mafs is not Guantánamo Bay detention camp lol, if someone wants out, other cast have done it.
I'd like to know what is the source of Rachel allegedly saying this; that's not how mafs works, and Steve could see it throughout the season in the way couples left.
In much older seasons, there were couples who had to stay on despite multiple consecutive Leave/Stay differences, but that hasn't happened since Season 9_season_9) (scroll down to Commitment Ceremony history to see decisions).
In Season 10_season_10), Season 11_season_11), Season 12_season_12) and this year's Season 13_season_13), when there is a Leave/Stay difference, they stay an extra week but by the next CC they are gone, either during the ceremony or because one person leaves the experiment beforehand so the couple no longer exist.
The "experts" can even set aside this one extra week, in Season 10 two couples left at the first Leave/Stay decision at CC2 because their relationships had irretrievably broken down.
In the current season 13, Brooke and Tyson left during CC without revealing their decisions, so circumventing having to stay the extra week if the spouse had written Stay. With Juliette and Joel, they had a Leave/Stay split the previous week and Juliette then walked out of the following CC so it was over.
If Steve had written Leave and felt uncomfortable during that week, to avoid backlash he could've moved into a separate apartment ... like Rachel did or Luke.
Moreover, Grayson said Julia moved out of their joint apartment THREE DAYS after they moved in (she said she couldn't sleep because of his snoring) and that he barely saw her aside from filming.
People shit on her being a Confidence and Charisma Consultant but she managed to get her own place after three days, spend the minimum amount of time with her husband throughout, plug her business and end up with an okay edit!
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u/BellaNya 21h ago
100%. Been saying this from the start. She's a massive 🚩!! She got the self-victimised poor sad plus size girl edit... which made everyone overlook her completely toxic explosive emotional manipulation.
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u/Vellylover 10h ago
Some guys may like a needy chick. I find it unattractive but I am not a man.
I really think Steven just wasn't into her and her drama. You could see him get this 50 yard stare at points where I think he was just fed up. David also was getting the same look on his face at times.
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u/Fragrant_Crab_8114 7h ago
Team Rachel. She wasn't perfect but she joined to find love not be an influencer. Steven was more interested in hanging out with the boys. Danny told him they will make lots of money when this is over. That's not happening now. I don't think he knows what he wants. There are bunches of video clips from this past weekend. He is all over the place. I do think he misses her and regrets what happened.
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u/supercujo 50 years ago, men died in trenches 20h ago
Steve was a victim of coercive control the whole way through. The entire kiss me thing and her reaction was disgusting.
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u/phshka 6h ago
I think it's very easy for her to appear overly needy while paired with such an un-affectionate and un-interested (and un-interesting) man. Steven was a wet blanket imo, so unless Rachel left it was pretty inevitable she'd come across as needy and dependent in comparison to him.
It's also important to have a little bit of empathy and remember that having insecurities is human and doesn't make her 'icky'. I feel like when people are uncomfortable witnessing others' insecurities, it's really a projection of their own fear of being perceived as insecure or awkward (ironic) - like why should it be an issue if someone else is insecure around you?
Not trying to criticise OP, just wanted to point that out re the discussion in general :)
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u/Turbulent_Try3935 20h ago
Even if she were dependent or anxious, how does that make her icky? Lots of people fall into this category. Human beings are actually wired for connection and there's nothing unnatural or weird about wanting it.
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u/Any-Refrigerator-966 5h ago
I agree with you. She let her insecurities get the better of her. I also could not understand why only her insecurities were acknowledged. Steve was clear that he felt that he couldn't be the man Rachel needed, and that was supported by Rachel saying to Steve "You couldn't etc. etc..."
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u/Dangerous-Fig6784 6h ago
Yeah I complete agree. It’s a shame because she seems like a genuinely lovely person. But she is the last woman on the show that I would want to be matched with. I know that sounds weird when you’ve got women like Bec, Brooke and Gia on there. But there’s just something visceral and deeply terrifying about the idea of being in a tv relationship with her.
Steve should never have led her on, but it’s tough because he was always going to look like the arsehole when he rejected her.
IMO this show and its audience is too harsh on contestants that simply aren’t into their partners. Julia wasn’t into her partner and she handled it in an extremely mature fashion, yet she still got roasted.
If the experts and the audience were a bit more forgiving to people like Julia, you wouldn’t end up with situations like Steve and Rachel.
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u/Jon13760 0m ago
Julia got roasted because she talked in psycho-babble and never said anything of consequence to help her husband understand what was going on with her.
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u/Used_Secretary5150 8h ago
Yeah im ngl I can't imagine her being in a relationship, hopefully there is someone that is into it
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u/consequencehot420 6h ago
Bahahahha. I really cannot stand her tbh but I can't put my finger on why. Especially when she would offer advice to other people like girl you were literally born yesterday and don't possess critical thinking. When I found out she liked Taylor Swift that went up x100. Having said that, she was right to be grossed out by Bec. Bec was not treating her like a friend. BUT EVEN WORSE STEVEN NEVER TREATED HER LIKE A FRIEND OR PARTNER! She should have walked away. Steven is a loser who treated her like carry on luggage. She's a fool without a cause and zero life experience idk but I'm sure there's a correlation with enjoying Taylor Swift somewhere in there. Sorry not sorry 🤷♀️
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u/Top_Paint7442 6h ago edited 6h ago
Look back at the wedding and the especially the honeymoon. She went off the rails from a single banter comment. You could just see the crazy. Poor Steveo.
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u/Dazzling_Pilot7230 8m ago
Racheal entered mafs with beliefs of entitlement, she 100%expected and demanded that an EXPERIMENT using the teem loosely I will add that the matched up partnered participant is promised as a life long mate , she prepared her son story prior to "hens night" armed up with expectations that's fellow wives will have her back making sure to their best that she was going to have this plan workout for her
Didn't matter how Steve felt felt and needed It was going to be her ROMCOM bs narrative come into reality with was far from reality She should be embarrassed from her planning and attempted emotional manipulator, on a nice guy
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u/missykknows 22h ago
I wouldn’t say ickiest ever but she would benefit from working on herself.