CLEVELAND — Recent Ohio University graduate Rachel Recchia's father was a tough audience for Clayton Echard on The Bachelor last night, but in the end Clayton seemed to win him over for the time being.
In week 8 of the reality dating competition, the 28-year-old medical sales professional visited the hometowns of four ladies where he held back on telling any of the four families that he was in love with the women, and said goodbye to one woman ahead of the much anticipated overnight "fantasy suite" dates.
Rachel, who received the third and final rose at the elimination ceremony in Monday's episode, took Clayton to meet her family in Clermont, Florida, where it was no secret that her father, Tony, has been hard on her past boyfriends.
While on a romantic kayak ride, the 26-year-old private pilot and flight instructor told Clayton not to be discouraged if her father was less than welcoming.
In an interview with producers, Rachel expressed her concern over how one conversation can change everything, and how worried she was that her father would be so unpleasant that Clayton wouldn't be able to picture himself as a part of her family.
In the end, though, Rachel's father seemed to lighten up a bit. While he never cracked a smile and didn't exactly give Clayton his blessing, he squeezed his arm and shook his hand while saying goodbye. He had told Clayton this is what he would do if he accepted their relationship.
Tony told cameras that he'd never seen his daughter this happy, and he didn't want to do anything to mess that up, so he dropped his usual guard just a bit.
This was after Rachel started to cry, and told her father that all she ever wanted was for him to be proud of her, and he reassured her that he was.
Back in Los Angeles, Clayton talked with host Jesse Palmer and told him he was acting guarded and had been at odds between his head and his heart, struggling with how he could possibly love more than one woman at a time.
In previews for next week's episode, we see the remaining ladies in tears after hearing Clayton tell them that he is in love with all three of them, including a yet-to-be-revealed woman who he had just said goodbye to, and that he had been intimate with the two of them.
To add to the drama, next week we will also hear from Ohio's Shanae Ankney again, with the Women Tell All special airing on Tuesday.
Check back here for your recap of what goes in down on that special, and with Rachel's journey for love, after The Bachelor airs on ABC.
