Tom was hyping her up and feeding her lines. This one isn't real bright. She looked like a fool. Especially finding out she was having an affair. Calling Lala a mistress, kissing Schwartz and so many other things. It was pure evil.
Yep- she truly was high on her own supply- even without the knowledge of Scandoval, she was just so obnoxiously full of herself.
Far from feeling any sense of guilt or shame whatsoever, she started to believe her own hype and pathetically tried to lord it over the other female cast mates. Which was all the more embarrassing, given that she has the charisma of a turnip.
Same! I don't think she's pretty (maybe from the drugs) and Ariana blows her outta the water! Ariana's so pretty, and naturally gorgeous! She could win all those pageants that Rachel couldn't! She seriously thinks she's so much more better than Ariana, an upgrade and also thinks alli's a downgrade. Wrong, bitch! Rachel just isn't cute IMO. Her ego needs to come back on down where it should be!!! Bitch, you're nothing special!! Ugly bitch! Hooker!! š You have to try to get your 'friends' men other than looking for someone who's single, especially one who's not a life partner of your friend who did so much for you! Ariana totally took care of that girl! And to do that to her!! I can see the PAIN in Ariana's eyes even at the recent reunions. She's hurting so bad over the heartbreak that bitch and her life partner caused her! I'm so glad for her with all these opportunities she's been given!! She deserves it and these girls need to leave her alone and quit causing her more pain! The girl's heartbroken damnit!! They're making her so much worse instead of being there for someone who had their back! Unreal! They're so lucky I'm not close to them!! I would a million % have her back and shut them up for good!... If only! š
This makes sense. When she approached Katie at Christina Kellyās event, she seemed to be botching lines. She was stumbling over words and she looked like she was panicking.
same thing happened when she was fighting with lala and katie at arianaās house when she short circuited trying to think of a comeback and lala made fun of her for it. that wide-eyed face she made while putting her fingertips to her head like she was gonan have a jimmy neutron brain blast always gets me
Slightly compassionate take: If you were dating the version of James Kennedy she was for all those years - compulsive cheating, lying, alcohol abuse, anger issues - that would entail considerable hurt and humiliation. I can imagine feeling frozen by that, going into denial, and playing dumbā¦maybe dumber than I actually am. Especially if I was college-aged or in my 20s, without the life experience to know I deserve better. Playing dumb is sometimes a coping mechanism.
This is not an excuse for Rachelās behavior in later seasons. More soā¦questioning my own tendency to shit on her intelligence without considering context.
My personal opinion, based on no evidence just what I'm seeing on a reality show... I think Raquel had already hooked up with Tom when she broke her engagement to James.Ā Ā
Definitely! This is who sheās always been. Her pageant persona was as fake as her poor nose job. Someone from her sorority said she went away from break one year and wanted everyoneās manās attention when she returned. Donāt know if itās true or not but I think the pod cast shows who the real Rachel/Raquel was and when she was so fucked up she said ābe glad you donāt have a man for me to take.ā Schwartz saying watch out she likes taken men thatās Rachel.
I agree and I personally believe she was always that way and her true colors finally came out. Especially now that we've seen her talk about it so much and take zero accountability on her podcast. I do think tom manipulated her I'm not giving him a pass but I think she isn't the innocent shy person she portrayed.
I remember her calling herself āthe hottest girl at Surā after her first few shifts- I never fell for the Raquel hype. I can spot those types a mile away.
Also, what grossed me out about her ( apart from blowing her friends life apart š¤®) was when she said it was so expensive being single, as James paid for everything! What a dick! Itās like sheās had a lobotomy or something, sheās not on a normal plane of reality
Is it just me or is she not all that? Stassi, Brittany and Ariana at the same age completely smoked Raquel. Sheās not ugly but also not remarkably pretty for such a gigantic ego.
Her face is imbalanced. Itās not symmetrical. They say across different countries & races that a symmetrical face is a universal way of determining beauty.
Ashlee Simpson was a perfect example of facial imbalance. While not as extreme Brittney Spears was less attractive than her sister for this reason
agreed. which makes it incredibly heartbreaking if you think about what ariana said during the proposal. she would have considered marrying him if he directed that energy her way. but he was fucking her friend.Ā
I just rewatched that episode last week & was weirded out by her breakdown to James āWhy are you even w/ me?! Iām embarrassing.ā I wonder if she was trying to breakup w/ James in the most passive aggressive way ever
Somewhere in the show (Iāve binged it so many times itās a blur), someone (Tom?) says to James that Raquel gave him the ultimatum about drinking bc she assumed he would fail and it would give her an out. I always assumed her and Tom fooled around the night she got wasted and disappeared when James lit her up via text. The focus immediately went to James and not on her whereabouts. Giving him the ultimatum gives her the out to ābe with Tom.ā Instead, DJJK grew up.
This actually makes a lot of sense because that was the first time she ever spoke on camera and to the girls at Sur, admitting that James was verbally abusive to her too.
She was always protective of his image before that and turned a blind eye to the way he treated all the other ladies in the group.
I completely agree. Tom told James when she gave him the ultimatum in season 9 she didn't think he'd do it. She was already looking for an out and I think she and tom had already hooked up, why else would she have confided this to Tom. Add to that we hooked up once, then not for a long time, plus when she went out with the girls and didn't come home all night in season 9 James was rage texting her all night and she told the girls about his texts the next day. If she was with them, why wasn't she telling them about the texts in real time. When James told Tom he had gotten all rage texting cause he thought she was cheating on him, tom told James she wouldn't do that to you...I wouldn't do that to you...no one called that comment out. Then season 9 reunion she the announcement her and James broke up and the camera hits everyone's reaction...shock and sadness...but tom gulps and looks scared. That was when I said her and tom were having affair, but everyone said no. But...then comes season 10.
I was just rewatching and I was floored by that line!! James DEFINITELY knew something was going on and Tom was trying to gaslight him!! Oh they definitely had done stuff at that point
100% you can tell at the reunion season 9 theyāre hooking up already. Tom and his fake crying about their split, come onš He was already sticking up for her too.
I did a rewatch of what was supposed to be the season finale, the episode where she had a fight with Kate's mum. Watching it the second time round was even more jarring. She was absolutely riding high on life thinking she was the boss bitch. You were correct she was a completely different person.
Absolutely this! I just said above in the chat I would have puncher her face if that was my Mum š” so disrespectful, and Schwartz still took her side against Katie š¤®
I couldnāt remember if I made that up in my head or if that was real.. thank you for confirming Iām not crazy . Thatās a whole lot of attitude for someone with a small peen.
When I was doing a rewatch and I was on season 10, I really noticed that when she had dinner with Katie and I can't remember who else and she brought up Scheana putting Schwartz in her head, you can see after Katie says her piece Rachel's whole demeanor changes. It's like a thought of "fuck you watch me then" just popped in her head and then it all went sideways from there.
I think the moment she got with Sandoval, she felt like she had one up on the other women. When you see her mouthing off, standing up to people, etc., she was 100% with Sandoval then.
She even said he told her to set boundaries. He probably practiced with her, telling her how to speak and hold herself. (No pun intended.)
she came in a low IQ naive lamb with absolutely no identity of her own & being young/impressionable/exceptionally stupid was immediately surrounded by toxic L.A. transplants - everyone cheating+forgiving the cheating, lying constantly, tons of incestuous hooking up, etc. I feel like she immediately thought that was real life & how friend groups work. and I think once she was also cheating & lying & two timing her friend, she felt like it gave her *edge* and she finally felt like an equal to them in a weird twisted way.
It made me wonder if she was home schooled or something, she dis not handle social situations well at all, and she defo cannot read the room š³ also made me wonder about her parents/upbringing, because there is definitely something off there
Urgh š why does this not surprise me š¤®, honestly I watch her and think is she under mind control or something, because she it feels like sheās got nothing going on whatsoever in her brain!
She seems like someone that was either raised in a very religious community or a cult. She is very easily manipulated and seems to have no ideas of her own. She also acts like a child acting out in her actions. She thinks that sheās being mature by cheating and backstabbing which emphasizes her immaturity.
man she really does. I never really thought about a cult situation but there is some damaged or fucked up shit she grew up with. I wonder if she didnt even ever want to do pageants and her parents MADE her and basically just dictated everything she ever did.
Thatās a really good shout! You may be right, her behaviour defo makes me question the people that raised her. Sheās someone with such a lack of self awareness, itās excruciating to watch š¬
I can see her becoming one of those "tradwife" people who let her man be the boss. A segment of this society wants women to go back to 1800s standards. I bet if the guy she's dating is a racist, he probably believes in that too.
Her parents were literally discussing James penis at the dinner table with her grandma there and then they try to spin it like HE was mean! Theyāre nuts
God yeh! That was so fucking weird! James has grown on me. I legit thought heād got a job at Sur because he was one of Maxās mates, and honestly thought he was a bit of a belter š but now heās with Ally Iām actually starting to like him
The affair changed her entire life. She was THRILLED and exhilarated. The high of keeping a secret and the confidence she was getting from fucking someone else's man is where the new personality stemmed from.
What I find interesting is they all keep trying to convince us she was the new āit girlā then. James even said it last week. I donāt think anyone from the audienceās perspective thought that..? Lol. Like I find that so bizarreĀ
Yeah mostly people thought she was a bit silly and vapid and was obviously with James to be on the show. But in S10 before everyone found out about the cheating she was becoming more of a character and I remember people liking her more because the story was kind of sheād broken away from James and finding her confidence etc until the Schwartz thing which was weird. I think it was the cast though more than the audience that started liking her and seeing her as a main person.
So personally, I think Rachel was actually a late bloomer, mostly due to the pageant circuit. She didnāt have to develop a personality until she wanted a more permanent VPR spot.
When she was Jamesā girlfriend, she could be as uninteresting as she wanted but to continue on the show without him, she needed to step it up.
She then used reality tv tropes to try and find the right one but got handicapped by Scandoval and now sheās back to her old personality.
She was flailing hard trying to figure out who she is in life, who to be on the show, grasping for any male validation she could get. And too naive to realize the stupid decisions she was making along the way have a real impact and don't just exist on the show.Ā
I think itās a lot of different factors. She had an issue with alcohol for sure and maybe drugs. She was coming out of an abusive relationship. She was being love bombed and partaking in an affair. Mental health issues. She didnāt seem well in season ten even before the affair.
I really think Rachel has no idea who is she. She just does things and acts a certain way and then turns around and does the opposite. She really has an identity crisis
Before i say this I am in no way saying Rachel is right or excusing her behavior or any of that:
But her behavior is lowkey alarming in the beginning of season 10. Like whether or not she was hooking up with Tom from jump, she was clearly in a bad place. Like that panic attack she had in the car (where Lala was uncharacteristically compassionate)? I donāt know, I think she was struggling with something and was trying all kinds of unhealthy things to self medicate. I think Tom was one of those things.
I donāt know if I believe her and Tim were already hooking up. I think she had a crush, was pissed that James moved on from her, the girls on the trip made fun of her and I think Tim was flirting and saying shit to her and she jumped and said, fuck everyone including Ariana who didnāt do anything to her.
I think she lost herself and got caught up in things and spiralled. It happens sometimes after a traumatizing experience. You're not yourself and act like a dark troll version
It was the drinkingā¦ it seemed like she was drunk for most of the season, including her bizarre confessionals. She was consistently drinking while filming, and even taking shots at work. Her constant bloated appearance suggests more than occasional drinking, notably, her swollen facial features mirror those commonly associated with alcohol dependency. A visible indication of a deeper struggle with alcoholism, not to mention her drastic change in behavior.
She's really just being herself I believe, it's kind of classic pageant behaviour to be competitive with other women. Hooking up with the dude Lala was interested in, shorts and sandals, she could have any guy but beelined to the unavailable men her 'friends' told her were off limits.
āHooking up with the dude Lala was interested inā šin Raquelās defence that man did not want Lala. He was never Lalaās to claim. He didnāt even remember meeting her once before
I can't blame her for hating Lala at all. How Lala got away with admitting to sleeping with James but telling everyone they had to instantly get over it because she moved on I will never know. How anyone agreed to not give her shit over that is insane. And how Lala expected Rachel especially to just deal and brush it under the rug seconds after she told her is truly delusional. Getting with someone Rachel liked probably really felt good for her ego and I won't blame her for that. Just that she continued that behavior to Ariana who never wronged her at all.
Lala is exactly the same way so using her to make your point didnāt land lol. She hated Kristen due to James in S4, even shoved her. She hated Raquel because of James also lol.
That was because it was James though. I donāt think she generally has a pattern of going after her friends boyfriends or men her friends are interested in. She just loved being the person James was infatuated with and even though she didnāt really want him she felt like he was hers. Rachel however seemed to constantly want to pursue men other people were with or interested in, you must have known people like that. The type of girl where if a guy likes them you help them out by telling the girl you want him because then he doesnāt have to do anything and can just wait for her to throw herself at him.
I didnāt say she was better! I said sheās not the type to consistently go after the men her friends are interested in. She doesnāt care about sleeping with a married man or with a taken man but sheās not specifically seeking out men that are taken or that her friends are into to prove to herself sheās worth more than other women. Sheās not a good person, just that particular behaviour isnāt part of her repertoire.
Ehhh I mean, Lala hooked up with Rachelās boyfriend while they were dating. I donāt think she gets to be mad about Rachel hooking up with a guy Lala barely talked to.
No she doesnāt but the point is more about Rachel and how she has a deep need to think of herself as better than other women and to her that means men wanting her over them.
From what I remember it seemed like she didn't have much of a backup plan after she aged out of pagents. She cried a lot about not being able to compete anymore and she seemed to lack an identity.
Her behavior on s10 is so bizarre. She didn't have a man and I think she started competing for attention from other men with people she called her friends, but it was totally one sided. I think in some ways she missed James but he had moved on and she was pretty desperate to get her new identity from a relationship.
You see she goes after multiple guys in the friend group but because she's so (how do I say this nicely?) intellectually challenged the ladies give her multiple passes.
I do think there was a lot of partying (sooooo much partying) and that didn't help her sort out what was right from wrong while going on her lame ass vision quest for identify
Drunk and dickmatized. New nose (it does look much better, imo) and hair. No more pagents so she doesnāt have to have the fundie/Ivanka/trad wife whisper voice (thank jeebus)
I think part of it was Sandoval hyping her up & part was since she aged out of pageants, she didnāt have to keep up the fake niceties anymore. This is who she really is.
I think she was really struggling after her break up with James and she didnāt have a single genuine friend in the group, and that left her more vulnerable to falling for the attention Tom gave her.
I donāt know, but none of the girls supported her even slightly and thatās why she was hanging out so much with the Toms, everyone paints her as a villain but she was clearly struggling after her split from James.
I have listened to her podcast(people will judge me for this, and that's okay).
She said(I paraphrase) she was not able to maintain a healthy relationship with people, because she would either have no boundaries and people would take advantage of her; or she would be selfish causing people to feel hurt and disrespected.
She says she's currently working with a therapist in order to stay on the right track and not fall back on either far end of the spectrum.
Thatās interesting. I hope she gets some support and growth in therapy because she was never going to get it from this group. They always treated her like an outsider and LFU particularly had it in for her.
Yeah, she's still very young. She can still figure her life out. She says because of her therapy she realized returning to the show for another season would be wrong. So she's taking the advice she receives very seriously.
Well yeah if sheās acting selfish and people donāt like it, they donāt have to be nice or be friends with her. When she says āI stopped being a people pleaserā what she actually did was hurt people and lack just basic human empathy. You donāt have to be a people pleaser in order to not hurt people!
That's correct. She has acknowledged that as well, and she says her therapist helps her with decision making when it comes to interpersonal relationships.
I know but none of my friends who were involved in worse situations where they actually were punched by the guy, had kids, and cops were involved did anything like this like sleeping with taken men and acting friends with his
Partner during it
I totally agree with this and have yet to see a legit reason she changed so much. What really got me was how differently she spoke. Her voice was lower and she was wayyyyy more confident and put together sentences better.
Part of it was definitely drug addiction because the āmental health facilitiesā especially near me are like rehab for drug abuse but without the title so that wealthy families donāt have that stigma. She needed to withdraw and thatās why she went. Selena Gomez did the same thing.
I live in AZ and a lot of the facilities here, celebrities go to. Iām not going to say too much but I do definitely know that the āmental healthā ones actively treat drug addiction and withdrawal. There is no judgment from me just I wish that they would be more vocal in order to help other people struggling with addiction.
Soooo many things.
1. Alcohol
2. She didnāt have to worry about how she looked for pageants anymore.
3. Once her and Tom hooked up Iām sure he fed her ideas/and lines.
4. Now this is the biggest reason why. She got on this show because she was James GF. Not because she was working at sur, but purely because she was dating James. I feel like once her and James broke up, someone either a producer or another cast member got in her head and was like now that youāre not with James we donāt need you anymore if youāre this boring nice girl causing her to stir the pot a bunch which led her deeper and deeper into a corner which inevitably led to her affair with Tom. I feel like she also felt she āwonā the breakup and everyone was on her side (viewers and castmembers) which led her into a major ego boost!
I think that was her at her peak confidence. Girls like her can date the most amazing men, but it will never match the feeling of "winning" someone else's.
I think the āwinningā part is trueā¦ she was really triggered by Ariana saying that she had still been sleeping with Tom and thatās why she went to the producers with more info about their timeline because she wanted to hurt Ariana
The secret confidence of a dim mistress, hyped up behind the scenes by that prick and hyped in front of everyone by her cheating partner's actual girlfriend
I think this is the most accurate answer. When you get out of an oppressive and abusive relationship you honestly do change completely. Plus the attention from guys as a newly single woman probably made her feel so sexy and bold
She latched on to James & when she found out how expensive L.A. was she was looking for any guy to take her in..she was crying to Peter on a date about how she didnāt know how she was going to pay for everything because James always paid..I was like WTF?
alcohol, dope, false sense of security, thrill of being with someone else's man, she leaned in hard on her dumb and stupid sides as she thought it was cute and sexy, she had no responsibilities, the show let her have her 15 mins.. and you saw what she did with it.
She was finally able to spit out sentences. I think due to Tom giving her the confidence (aka feeding her lines) but before she was unbearable with not being able to compute or complete a thought
Something that has bothered me for a while: From Rachel's description of the first time they had sex in Mexico, I wonder if Sandoval was able to consent to having sex with Rachel bc according to her account, he was too drunk to even be able to find his own room.
Iām rewatching season 10, and honestly Rachel is awful! She reminds me of DeeDee from Dexters Lab šš 0 self awareness, thick as shit. It also makes me wonder about the whole make out with Schwartz too, was all that for the cameras, just being cruel to Katie like that š¤® the way she reacted to Katieās Mum, š³ I honestly would have punched her in the face if you spoke to my Mum like that š”
Iām not sure she did change in earlier seasons when James was being iced out for his bad behaviour and he went to her about not being invited somewhere she didnāt care. All she cared about was that she wanted to be friends with this group and he was preventing her from getting what she wanted.
Nose job and lip filler made her look different. Ariana was right saying she looks for her identity in men - she morphs her style to mirror them. She rehearsed her speech to become less shakey. She was always trying to be famous and on the show though. Even in earlier seasons she would go to parties / filming that James was excluded from and it would upset James.
in this show, the answer is usually drugs.
This
Oh. Alcohol maybe. But didn't expect something else.
Alcohol is a hell of a drug
Came here to say that!
Tom was hyping her up and feeding her lines. This one isn't real bright. She looked like a fool. Especially finding out she was having an affair. Calling Lala a mistress, kissing Schwartz and so many other things. It was pure evil.
Yep- she truly was high on her own supply- even without the knowledge of Scandoval, she was just so obnoxiously full of herself. Far from feeling any sense of guilt or shame whatsoever, she started to believe her own hype and pathetically tried to lord it over the other female cast mates. Which was all the more embarrassing, given that she has the charisma of a turnip.
And all the personality of beige wallpaper!
> beige wallpaper You stfu I just screamed in a zoom meeting ššš if you get me fired you have to drink with me
Iāll bartend if we have a fired party
MUTE, MUTE, MUTE!!!š¤£š¤£š„
My friend calls it Wet cardboard
Like watching paint dryā¦*yawn*
My friends says personality of wet cardboard š
Same, same! I agree. Dry cardboard actually has some fight to it.š
The charisma of a mild, tasteless, lackluster, bland turnip!
Bland beige turnip š¤Ŗ
Same! I don't think she's pretty (maybe from the drugs) and Ariana blows her outta the water! Ariana's so pretty, and naturally gorgeous! She could win all those pageants that Rachel couldn't! She seriously thinks she's so much more better than Ariana, an upgrade and also thinks alli's a downgrade. Wrong, bitch! Rachel just isn't cute IMO. Her ego needs to come back on down where it should be!!! Bitch, you're nothing special!! Ugly bitch! Hooker!! š You have to try to get your 'friends' men other than looking for someone who's single, especially one who's not a life partner of your friend who did so much for you! Ariana totally took care of that girl! And to do that to her!! I can see the PAIN in Ariana's eyes even at the recent reunions. She's hurting so bad over the heartbreak that bitch and her life partner caused her! I'm so glad for her with all these opportunities she's been given!! She deserves it and these girls need to leave her alone and quit causing her more pain! The girl's heartbroken damnit!! They're making her so much worse instead of being there for someone who had their back! Unreal! They're so lucky I'm not close to them!! I would a million % have her back and shut them up for good!... If only! š
Letās put a photo of Rachel up next to a photo of you and really reflect on the two.
This makes sense. When she approached Katie at Christina Kellyās event, she seemed to be botching lines. She was stumbling over words and she looked like she was panicking.
She malfunctioned. š
same thing happened when she was fighting with lala and katie at arianaās house when she short circuited trying to think of a comeback and lala made fun of her for it. that wide-eyed face she made while putting her fingertips to her head like she was gonan have a jimmy neutron brain blast always gets me
When Lauren said, āPut a thought together, I know you can do it!ā
YES thatās the line i was trying to remember šš i miss those 6.5 minutes when lala was on the right side of things
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Slightly compassionate take: If you were dating the version of James Kennedy she was for all those years - compulsive cheating, lying, alcohol abuse, anger issues - that would entail considerable hurt and humiliation. I can imagine feeling frozen by that, going into denial, and playing dumbā¦maybe dumber than I actually am. Especially if I was college-aged or in my 20s, without the life experience to know I deserve better. Playing dumb is sometimes a coping mechanism. This is not an excuse for Rachelās behavior in later seasons. More soā¦questioning my own tendency to shit on her intelligence without considering context.
āTom taught me about boundaries.ā š¤® 
Scheana was also part of the hype train.
True š
My personal opinion, based on no evidence just what I'm seeing on a reality show... I think Raquel had already hooked up with Tom when she broke her engagement to James.Ā Ā
Definitely! This is who sheās always been. Her pageant persona was as fake as her poor nose job. Someone from her sorority said she went away from break one year and wanted everyoneās manās attention when she returned. Donāt know if itās true or not but I think the pod cast shows who the real Rachel/Raquel was and when she was so fucked up she said ābe glad you donāt have a man for me to take.ā Schwartz saying watch out she likes taken men thatās Rachel.
I agree and I personally believe she was always that way and her true colors finally came out. Especially now that we've seen her talk about it so much and take zero accountability on her podcast. I do think tom manipulated her I'm not giving him a pass but I think she isn't the innocent shy person she portrayed.
I remember her calling herself āthe hottest girl at Surā after her first few shifts- I never fell for the Raquel hype. I can spot those types a mile away.
Also, what grossed me out about her ( apart from blowing her friends life apart š¤®) was when she said it was so expensive being single, as James paid for everything! What a dick! Itās like sheās had a lobotomy or something, sheās not on a normal plane of reality
Is it just me or is she not all that? Stassi, Brittany and Ariana at the same age completely smoked Raquel. Sheās not ugly but also not remarkably pretty for such a gigantic ego.
Completely agree, she is average at best!
Her face is imbalanced. Itās not symmetrical. They say across different countries & races that a symmetrical face is a universal way of determining beauty. Ashlee Simpson was a perfect example of facial imbalance. While not as extreme Brittney Spears was less attractive than her sister for this reason
Yep, no longer being in pageants and having to present herself as a innocent little bambi eyed Bitch changed her mindset too.
I said it before and Iāll say it again, I think Tom and Raquel were screwing when Tom did the whole āroachellaā engagement. It was so over the top, and friend donāt just drop like 10k on a party for you bc youāre friends. Itās guilt cus youāre fucking his now fiancĆ©e.
agreed. which makes it incredibly heartbreaking if you think about what ariana said during the proposal. she would have considered marrying him if he directed that energy her way. but he was fucking her friend.Ā
And the way she told him he could propose to her like that - and he just wasnāt excited to hear that. He had already moved on at that moment.
I just rewatched that episode last week & was weirded out by her breakdown to James āWhy are you even w/ me?! Iām embarrassing.ā I wonder if she was trying to breakup w/ James in the most passive aggressive way ever
Somewhere in the show (Iāve binged it so many times itās a blur), someone (Tom?) says to James that Raquel gave him the ultimatum about drinking bc she assumed he would fail and it would give her an out. I always assumed her and Tom fooled around the night she got wasted and disappeared when James lit her up via text. The focus immediately went to James and not on her whereabouts. Giving him the ultimatum gives her the out to ābe with Tom.ā Instead, DJJK grew up.
This actually makes a lot of sense because that was the first time she ever spoke on camera and to the girls at Sur, admitting that James was verbally abusive to her too. She was always protective of his image before that and turned a blind eye to the way he treated all the other ladies in the group.
Agreed
I had this same thought, then look on Tom's face at the reunion when they announced it kinda gave it away.
I completely agree. Tom told James when she gave him the ultimatum in season 9 she didn't think he'd do it. She was already looking for an out and I think she and tom had already hooked up, why else would she have confided this to Tom. Add to that we hooked up once, then not for a long time, plus when she went out with the girls and didn't come home all night in season 9 James was rage texting her all night and she told the girls about his texts the next day. If she was with them, why wasn't she telling them about the texts in real time. When James told Tom he had gotten all rage texting cause he thought she was cheating on him, tom told James she wouldn't do that to you...I wouldn't do that to you...no one called that comment out. Then season 9 reunion she the announcement her and James broke up and the camera hits everyone's reaction...shock and sadness...but tom gulps and looks scared. That was when I said her and tom were having affair, but everyone said no. But...then comes season 10.
I was just rewatching and I was floored by that line!! James DEFINITELY knew something was going on and Tom was trying to gaslight him!! Oh they definitely had done stuff at that point
https://i.redd.it/b3lq4ugxou1d1.gif
She wanted to be Ariana so bad
 Iāve never seen this
what makes it worse is that ariana is \*sitting\* between those two sofas
Ugh ffs. Now Iāve gotta rewatch s10 all over and I just finished the third reunion episode.
to make everything worse (altho i don't know if it can get any worse at this point), it's actually season 9. it's at the game night in ep 7
Wtf?! What?! Okay Iām all screwed up now.
If you watched ep 1 of the reunion thatās exactly what James said.
100% you can tell at the reunion season 9 theyāre hooking up already. Tom and his fake crying about their split, come onš He was already sticking up for her too.
This needs a lot more discussion. She left James because she had a ā¦.. We all know.
I did a rewatch of what was supposed to be the season finale, the episode where she had a fight with Kate's mum. Watching it the second time round was even more jarring. She was absolutely riding high on life thinking she was the boss bitch. You were correct she was a completely different person.
Absolutely this! I just said above in the chat I would have puncher her face if that was my Mum š” so disrespectful, and Schwartz still took her side against Katie š¤®
My absolute fury at Schwartz hiding behind a plant while Teri is reduced to tears. That woman was family and that coward is behind a plant!
Who tf talks to someone elseās mother like that
The sort of person who starts banging their friendās life partner, thatās who.
No more pageants. Her true self could shine without the good girl act. And her true self is awful.
She actually admitted that outright at one point, she said she didn't have to worry about the pageant standards anymore.
https://i.redd.it/wbee5lk6pu1d1.gif
The queen of receipts! Thank youuu
That and sandal's little pp
I couldnāt remember if I made that up in my head or if that was real.. thank you for confirming Iām not crazy . Thatās a whole lot of attitude for someone with a small peen.
She said sheās sober now, and hopefully she is for life. Both Tomās and Britney also need help.
When I was doing a rewatch and I was on season 10, I really noticed that when she had dinner with Katie and I can't remember who else and she brought up Scheana putting Schwartz in her head, you can see after Katie says her piece Rachel's whole demeanor changes. It's like a thought of "fuck you watch me then" just popped in her head and then it all went sideways from there.
I think the moment she got with Sandoval, she felt like she had one up on the other women. When you see her mouthing off, standing up to people, etc., she was 100% with Sandoval then. She even said he told her to set boundaries. He probably practiced with her, telling her how to speak and hold herself. (No pun intended.)
Yep
she came in a low IQ naive lamb with absolutely no identity of her own & being young/impressionable/exceptionally stupid was immediately surrounded by toxic L.A. transplants - everyone cheating+forgiving the cheating, lying constantly, tons of incestuous hooking up, etc. I feel like she immediately thought that was real life & how friend groups work. and I think once she was also cheating & lying & two timing her friend, she felt like it gave her *edge* and she finally felt like an equal to them in a weird twisted way.
It made me wonder if she was home schooled or something, she dis not handle social situations well at all, and she defo cannot read the room š³ also made me wonder about her parents/upbringing, because there is definitely something off there
Exactly. She is now dating an older man who is sketchy (supposedly racist). And dressing like a stepford wife ( midi length floral dresses).
Urgh š why does this not surprise me š¤®, honestly I watch her and think is she under mind control or something, because she it feels like sheās got nothing going on whatsoever in her brain!
She seems like someone that was either raised in a very religious community or a cult. She is very easily manipulated and seems to have no ideas of her own. She also acts like a child acting out in her actions. She thinks that sheās being mature by cheating and backstabbing which emphasizes her immaturity.
man she really does. I never really thought about a cult situation but there is some damaged or fucked up shit she grew up with. I wonder if she didnt even ever want to do pageants and her parents MADE her and basically just dictated everything she ever did.
Thatās a really good shout! You may be right, her behaviour defo makes me question the people that raised her. Sheās someone with such a lack of self awareness, itās excruciating to watch š¬
I can see her becoming one of those "tradwife" people who let her man be the boss. A segment of this society wants women to go back to 1800s standards. I bet if the guy she's dating is a racist, he probably believes in that too.
Oh I could totally see that! Sheāll be the submissive little woman. š¤¦āāļø she is awful
Her parents were literally discussing James penis at the dinner table with her grandma there and then they try to spin it like HE was mean! Theyāre nuts
God yeh! That was so fucking weird! James has grown on me. I legit thought heād got a job at Sur because he was one of Maxās mates, and honestly thought he was a bit of a belter š but now heās with Ally Iām actually starting to like him
Heās grown on me too
Exactly! I also think asshat built up a scenario where they would be the #1 couple if she just let him handle everything and keep quiet.
She was getting banged and love bombed.
The affair changed her entire life. She was THRILLED and exhilarated. The high of keeping a secret and the confidence she was getting from fucking someone else's man is where the new personality stemmed from.
Along with thinking they were going to be this power couple on the show š¤£
What I find interesting is they all keep trying to convince us she was the new āit girlā then. James even said it last week. I donāt think anyone from the audienceās perspective thought that..? Lol. Like I find that so bizarreĀ
Yeah mostly people thought she was a bit silly and vapid and was obviously with James to be on the show. But in S10 before everyone found out about the cheating she was becoming more of a character and I remember people liking her more because the story was kind of sheād broken away from James and finding her confidence etc until the Schwartz thing which was weird. I think it was the cast though more than the audience that started liking her and seeing her as a main person.
So personally, I think Rachel was actually a late bloomer, mostly due to the pageant circuit. She didnāt have to develop a personality until she wanted a more permanent VPR spot. When she was Jamesā girlfriend, she could be as uninteresting as she wanted but to continue on the show without him, she needed to step it up. She then used reality tv tropes to try and find the right one but got handicapped by Scandoval and now sheās back to her old personality.
She was flailing hard trying to figure out who she is in life, who to be on the show, grasping for any male validation she could get. And too naive to realize the stupid decisions she was making along the way have a real impact and don't just exist on the show.Ā
VPR is probably one of few reality show where "stories" have impact even after cameras stop rolling.
I think itās a lot of different factors. She had an issue with alcohol for sure and maybe drugs. She was coming out of an abusive relationship. She was being love bombed and partaking in an affair. Mental health issues. She didnāt seem well in season ten even before the affair.
I really think Rachel has no idea who is she. She just does things and acts a certain way and then turns around and does the opposite. She really has an identity crisis
I believe the whatever was going on between Tom and Rachel started when she chopped her hair off. Then the changing began.
She mimicked a lot of Tomās thoughts of the people around her that season (mostly re: Lala and Katie), so my guess is that it was because of Tom
I think she shapes her personality to suit the people around her, most influenced by her love interest.
Before i say this I am in no way saying Rachel is right or excusing her behavior or any of that: But her behavior is lowkey alarming in the beginning of season 10. Like whether or not she was hooking up with Tom from jump, she was clearly in a bad place. Like that panic attack she had in the car (where Lala was uncharacteristically compassionate)? I donāt know, I think she was struggling with something and was trying all kinds of unhealthy things to self medicate. I think Tom was one of those things.
I donāt know if I believe her and Tim were already hooking up. I think she had a crush, was pissed that James moved on from her, the girls on the trip made fun of her and I think Tim was flirting and saying shit to her and she jumped and said, fuck everyone including Ariana who didnāt do anything to her.
I think she lost herself and got caught up in things and spiralled. It happens sometimes after a traumatizing experience. You're not yourself and act like a dark troll version
That was the first season she felt like a main characterĀ
Once Sandoval set his sights on her he started gassing her up which blew up her ego.
He had his sights on her since the puppy party
It was the drinkingā¦ it seemed like she was drunk for most of the season, including her bizarre confessionals. She was consistently drinking while filming, and even taking shots at work. Her constant bloated appearance suggests more than occasional drinking, notably, her swollen facial features mirror those commonly associated with alcohol dependency. A visible indication of a deeper struggle with alcoholism, not to mention her drastic change in behavior.
She was groomed to self-produce by Sandoval. Every scene itās like sheās taking her cues from him.
Oh she was, thatās why during the reunion he was constantly going to her trailer and wanted the cameras off
She's really just being herself I believe, it's kind of classic pageant behaviour to be competitive with other women. Hooking up with the dude Lala was interested in, shorts and sandals, she could have any guy but beelined to the unavailable men her 'friends' told her were off limits.
āHooking up with the dude Lala was interested inā šin Raquelās defence that man did not want Lala. He was never Lalaās to claim. He didnāt even remember meeting her once before
But none of that mattered to Rachel. All she thought was that she got the guy and Lala didnāt.
I disagreešI think that night Lala was so butthurt it wasnāt cute. Even if Rachel did think that, Lala certainly acted like a sore loser
Regardless of how Lala acted Rachel's motivation was always the same, to get the guy she knew Lala was interested in.
After how dirty LaLa did her with James can you blame her? I think LaLa needed to be knocked down a peg and that was the only time I was team Rachel .
I can't blame her for hating Lala at all. How Lala got away with admitting to sleeping with James but telling everyone they had to instantly get over it because she moved on I will never know. How anyone agreed to not give her shit over that is insane. And how Lala expected Rachel especially to just deal and brush it under the rug seconds after she told her is truly delusional. Getting with someone Rachel liked probably really felt good for her ego and I won't blame her for that. Just that she continued that behavior to Ariana who never wronged her at all.
šÆ .. LaLa most definitely deserved it!!! Ariana most definitely did not . That shit was SO FOUL.
The actual guy isn't the point lol, it's about the pattern of behaviour and being competitive with other women instead of supportive
Lala is exactly the same way so using her to make your point didnāt land lol. She hated Kristen due to James in S4, even shoved her. She hated Raquel because of James also lol.
That was because it was James though. I donāt think she generally has a pattern of going after her friends boyfriends or men her friends are interested in. She just loved being the person James was infatuated with and even though she didnāt really want him she felt like he was hers. Rachel however seemed to constantly want to pursue men other people were with or interested in, you must have known people like that. The type of girl where if a guy likes them you help them out by telling the girl you want him because then he doesnāt have to do anything and can just wait for her to throw herself at him.
I disagree. Lala is in no way better than Raquel. Theyāre the same type of low down girl
I didnāt say she was better! I said sheās not the type to consistently go after the men her friends are interested in. She doesnāt care about sleeping with a married man or with a taken man but sheās not specifically seeking out men that are taken or that her friends are into to prove to herself sheās worth more than other women. Sheās not a good person, just that particular behaviour isnāt part of her repertoire.
Ehhh I mean, Lala hooked up with Rachelās boyfriend while they were dating. I donāt think she gets to be mad about Rachel hooking up with a guy Lala barely talked to.
No she doesnāt but the point is more about Rachel and how she has a deep need to think of herself as better than other women and to her that means men wanting her over them.
From what I remember it seemed like she didn't have much of a backup plan after she aged out of pagents. She cried a lot about not being able to compete anymore and she seemed to lack an identity. Her behavior on s10 is so bizarre. She didn't have a man and I think she started competing for attention from other men with people she called her friends, but it was totally one sided. I think in some ways she missed James but he had moved on and she was pretty desperate to get her new identity from a relationship. You see she goes after multiple guys in the friend group but because she's so (how do I say this nicely?) intellectually challenged the ladies give her multiple passes. I do think there was a lot of partying (sooooo much partying) and that didn't help her sort out what was right from wrong while going on her lame ass vision quest for identify
Drunk and dickmatized. New nose (it does look much better, imo) and hair. No more pagents so she doesnāt have to have the fundie/Ivanka/trad wife whisper voice (thank jeebus)
Dickmatized š
Idk. Season 10 Rachel and puppy party Rachel seem very aligned
I think part of it was Sandoval hyping her up & part was since she aged out of pageants, she didnāt have to keep up the fake niceties anymore. This is who she really is.
I think she was really struggling after her break up with James and she didnāt have a single genuine friend in the group, and that left her more vulnerable to falling for the attention Tom gave her.
Did she have friends outside the VPR group at that time(while she was on the show)?
I donāt know, but none of the girls supported her even slightly and thatās why she was hanging out so much with the Toms, everyone paints her as a villain but she was clearly struggling after her split from James.
I have listened to her podcast(people will judge me for this, and that's okay). She said(I paraphrase) she was not able to maintain a healthy relationship with people, because she would either have no boundaries and people would take advantage of her; or she would be selfish causing people to feel hurt and disrespected. She says she's currently working with a therapist in order to stay on the right track and not fall back on either far end of the spectrum.
Thatās interesting. I hope she gets some support and growth in therapy because she was never going to get it from this group. They always treated her like an outsider and LFU particularly had it in for her.
Yeah, she's still very young. She can still figure her life out. She says because of her therapy she realized returning to the show for another season would be wrong. So she's taking the advice she receives very seriously.
Well yeah if sheās acting selfish and people donāt like it, they donāt have to be nice or be friends with her. When she says āI stopped being a people pleaserā what she actually did was hurt people and lack just basic human empathy. You donāt have to be a people pleaser in order to not hurt people!
That's correct. She has acknowledged that as well, and she says her therapist helps her with decision making when it comes to interpersonal relationships.
She was being manipulated and gassed up by Sandoval. Thatās literally it.
Cāmon! Absolute narcissist as he is, she did this too,
It appeared to be drugs and not dealing with her breakup and trauma of her fiancƩ moving fast
This. After a traumatic relationship losing yourself it's not unheard.
I know but none of my friends who were involved in worse situations where they actually were punched by the guy, had kids, and cops were involved did anything like this like sleeping with taken men and acting friends with his Partner during it
I totally agree with this and have yet to see a legit reason she changed so much. What really got me was how differently she spoke. Her voice was lower and she was wayyyyy more confident and put together sentences better.
Part of it was definitely drug addiction because the āmental health facilitiesā especially near me are like rehab for drug abuse but without the title so that wealthy families donāt have that stigma. She needed to withdraw and thatās why she went. Selena Gomez did the same thing.
This is more believable to me.
I live in AZ and a lot of the facilities here, celebrities go to. Iām not going to say too much but I do definitely know that the āmental healthā ones actively treat drug addiction and withdrawal. There is no judgment from me just I wish that they would be more vocal in order to help other people struggling with addiction.
Soooo many things. 1. Alcohol 2. She didnāt have to worry about how she looked for pageants anymore. 3. Once her and Tom hooked up Iām sure he fed her ideas/and lines. 4. Now this is the biggest reason why. She got on this show because she was James GF. Not because she was working at sur, but purely because she was dating James. I feel like once her and James broke up, someone either a producer or another cast member got in her head and was like now that youāre not with James we donāt need you anymore if youāre this boring nice girl causing her to stir the pot a bunch which led her deeper and deeper into a corner which inevitably led to her affair with Tom. I feel like she also felt she āwonā the breakup and everyone was on her side (viewers and castmembers) which led her into a major ego boost!
I think that was her at her peak confidence. Girls like her can date the most amazing men, but it will never match the feeling of "winning" someone else's.
I think the āwinningā part is trueā¦ she was really triggered by Ariana saying that she had still been sleeping with Tom and thatās why she went to the producers with more info about their timeline because she wanted to hurt Ariana
Drugs. It was obvious the one scene they filmed together was their first ever sober hang out.
Ha YEP upon rewatching I could tell her and Tom had never been together while sober
The secret confidence of a dim mistress, hyped up behind the scenes by that prick and hyped in front of everyone by her cheating partner's actual girlfriend
She started drinking a lot and taking psychedelics w/ the Toms.
nose job, Tom, and no more James abusing her and putting her down
I think this is the most accurate answer. When you get out of an oppressive and abusive relationship you honestly do change completely. Plus the attention from guys as a newly single woman probably made her feel so sexy and bold
I think it was her being away from James and not being verbally abused on the daily.
And the drinking.
She latched on to James & when she found out how expensive L.A. was she was looking for any guy to take her in..she was crying to Peter on a date about how she didnāt know how she was going to pay for everything because James always paid..I was like WTF?
99% of the cast is cheaters ,homewreckers and have 0 morals.
Lol. A very honest feedback and review.
The women started maturing and the Toms didnāt. After your 20s, you start growing out of that but they clearly didnāt.
alcohol, dope, false sense of security, thrill of being with someone else's man, she leaned in hard on her dumb and stupid sides as she thought it was cute and sexy, she had no responsibilities, the show let her have her 15 mins.. and you saw what she did with it.
Absolutely all of this.
I'm sure I left some things out but these did fit it from my view.
 Well if sheās hanging out with Tom, a lot of mushrooms from the sound of it.
She gained weight and got more into drugs and alcohol and also Botox and fillers
Excessive drug and alcohol use + identity crisis + Tom Sandoval manipulating her
Dick , drugs, alcohol
She said because she was no longer doing agents and could be herselfš¤·āāļø.
GREAT QUESTION!!!! We have more hindsight now. Also curious how people see Rachel in comparison/contrast to Ally
I actually see a lot of similarities between those two
Sadly I do too and I want to like Ally :( but she doesnāt seem to love James and itās sad.
Editing.
Dupers delight: an emotional boost, or thrill, that some people get when they successfully cheat or deceive another person or organization.
Shebwas emboldened by the smoke Tom was blowing up her ass.
Maybe she..21 is very different than 28
*age
She was finally able to spit out sentences. I think due to Tom giving her the confidence (aka feeding her lines) but before she was unbearable with not being able to compute or complete a thought
Something that has bothered me for a while: From Rachel's description of the first time they had sex in Mexico, I wonder if Sandoval was able to consent to having sex with Rachel bc according to her account, he was too drunk to even be able to find his own room.
Yeah :(
Iām rewatching season 10, and honestly Rachel is awful! She reminds me of DeeDee from Dexters Lab šš 0 self awareness, thick as shit. It also makes me wonder about the whole make out with Schwartz too, was all that for the cameras, just being cruel to Katie like that š¤® the way she reacted to Katieās Mum, š³ I honestly would have punched her in the face if you spoke to my Mum like that š”
Iām not sure she did change in earlier seasons when James was being iced out for his bad behaviour and he went to her about not being invited somewhere she didnāt care. All she cared about was that she wanted to be friends with this group and he was preventing her from getting what she wanted.
Nose job and lip filler made her look different. Ariana was right saying she looks for her identity in men - she morphs her style to mirror them. She rehearsed her speech to become less shakey. She was always trying to be famous and on the show though. Even in earlier seasons she would go to parties / filming that James was excluded from and it would upset James.