Who Is Tino Franco On ‘The Bachelorette’? Facts and Details
Rachel Recchia has had a rocky start to her “The Bachelorette, season, held alongside co-Bachelorette Gabriela “Gabby” Windey.
Throughout the show’s second episode, Recchia struggled to form connections with the suitors and ended up sending Jordan Vandergriff, whom she invited on her first one-on-one date, home.
During one of her in-the-moment confessionals, Recchia wondered, “Maybe they don’t like me.”
She shouldn’t worry, though. There’s one contestant who definitely has his focus completely on Recchia: Tino Franco, a 28-year-old from Playa Del Rey, Calif.
Franco and Recchia immediately hit it off from the moment he stepped out of the limo. After he walked inside the Bachelor Mansion, Recchia turned to Windey and said, “He’s my type.” Then, she chooses him for a one-one-on date in Paris after he chooses to be part of "Team Rachel."
Here’s everything you need to know about Season 19’s early frontrunner.
He wants to have four kids
Franco’s ABC cast bio focused on his love for his family and his hope to build his own one day.
“He wants a meaningful connection that will set the groundwork for him and his future wife to be great parents because, for Tino, family is everything ... (and) he wants four kids," the bio reads.
Other parts of the bio reveal Franco enjoys reading the Wall Street Journal and he wants to go surfing in Bali one day. Also, “90% of what he eats is meat.” Hopefully, that tidbit addressed on the show.
Tino works as a general contractor
Franco's ABC bio said he works as a general contractor. Naturally, his introduction to the Bachelorettes was replete with construction puns: “You two, look forking gorgeous,” Franco told the two Bachelorettes after driving a forklift up the driveway.
You can probably find him outside
"If he’s not surfing, he’s cycling, camping or loving on his family dog as much as he possibly can,” Franco's bio said — a sentiment reflected on his Instagram page.
He volunteers with Camp Ronald McDonald
Franco’s cast bio mentioned the importance of philanthropy in his life. “Tino is very involved in giving back to his community and wants to find someone who will work to make the world a better place alongside him,” the bio said.
The California native's Instagram page is a monument to the work he does with the nonprofit Ronald McDonald House. Specifically, Franco works with Camp Ronald McDonald, a cost-free summer camp for children with cancer, their siblings and their parents.
In a September 2019 Instagram post, Franco opened up about how, after his younger brother was diagnosed with leukemia, Camp Ronald McDonald stepped in to help. (According to Franco's caption, his brother has been "healthy for 10 years now").
"Camp came up big for me and my family," Franco wrote, saying it was "an incredible community of comfort and love.”
He received Recchia’s first impression rose
During their first conversation on night one, Franco decided to sit with Recchia on a staircase in the Bachelor Mansion so that she could have a happier memory associated with stairs. His gesture was a callback to last season of “The Bachelor,” during which Recchia sobbed while lying on the stairs during a rose ceremony in Iceland.
“I figured you might have a little bit of a troubled past with the stairs, so maybe we could get together and make a better memory out of it,” he explained to Recchia as she laughed.
After Recchia told him they were “off to a great start,” the two shared a kiss.
Later in the night, Recchia gave Franco her first impression rose.
“I have been thinking about you for a while and I really enjoyed our conversation,” she told him before they kissed again.
In a confessional interview, Franco said he was was "so stoked" to spend more time with Rachel. “No doubt in my mind that (Rachel and I) can build something really special here," he said.
We’ll have to see if that “special” connection takes him all the way to the end.