Bachelor in Paradise's Rachael says there was more to her relationship with Richie Strahan.

After watching Thursday night’s episode of Bachelor in Paradise, you might think Rachael Gouvignon is a bit of a stage five clinger.

After “her bachelor” Richie Strahan walked into paradise last week, Rachael seemed very focused on… him.

“He’s my bachelor.”

“He was my bachelor.”

“He wasn’t even her bachelor.”

The Mamamia Out Loud team on why we’re all so obsessed with reality TV. Post continues after audio…

However the 34-year-old, who left paradise on Thursday night after not receiving a rose, says their relationship was a lot less one-sided than what we saw onscreen.

“We sat there for three hours and we were talking about what a relationship could be outside of paradise,” she said of her final “date” with Richie.

“If you aren’t interested in somebody on a date, you would normally leave in like half an hour, maybe an hour tops. There was a lot more depth to our relationship.”

Rachael even said Richie was still interested in exploring things with her, despite his growing connection with Cass Wood.

“He was expressing concerns about him and Cass to me at this point and wanted to explore things further with me as well,” she said.

When Richie first walked into paradise, Rachael was “nervous” and “excited”, and she wanted to find out whether he had regretted sending her home when he did.

“I didn’t have bad blood with him and I think you heard him say a couple of times that he, erm, chose the wrong girl in the end,” she said. “I mean, clearly he did because they’re not together.”

“You always wonder… did he have regrets? Does he think what if?

“I was open to that and I was thinking maybe he would feel the same way. And in some regards he was, but I don’t think he was even ready to date, he wasn’t even prepared to be in an environment like paradise.”

According to Rachael, it was Cass who was perhaps up to her old stage five clinger ways.

“Cass was with him from the moment she woke up until it was night,” she said. “To have an opportunity to talk to Richie and hang out with him was very slim.”

“It was definitely me who had to find the opportunities to pull him away. But he wasn’t on my radar every day.”

When she wasn’t trying to find time with Richie in paradise, Rachael was actively avoiding Alex Nation.

“I was always wary that she was going to create another lie about me,” she said. “I didn’t want anything to do with it and I just sat back and watched her do the same thing [to others].

The 34-year-old believes her fellow bach alum, who is currently getting close to Bill Goldsmith and Brooke Blurton in paradise, is playing the game in a big way.

“I just thought I can’t be near this person, she’s playing the game, she’s very dangerous in the fact that she’s so good at lying,” she said. “She’s definitely not a person I’d like to bump into because I think she’s hurt a lot of people.”

Rachael said we’re definitely not seeing the real Alex on our TV screens.

“Alex is definitely playing a big game in all of this. It’s just unfortunate that the viewers aren’t seeing everything that happened because she does it in such a way… it’s very conniving. She’s like a master manipulator.

“It’s just sad to see people falling into the trap of Alex because I don’t think her heart is pure.”

Rachael believes the tide will eventually turn on Alex who is currently one of the most popular contestants on the show.

“I’ve talked to a lot of contestants and I feel that a lot of people feel the same.”