'Bachelorette' Alum Tino Franco Says Aven Jones 'Reached Out' to Apologize After Awkward Finale Moment

Tino Franco, who called Aven Jones a "class act," also opened up about why he didn't immediately breakup with Rachel Recchia after cheating on her with another woman

Tino Franco and Aven Jones are on good terms — even after their awkward Bachelorette finale run-in involving mutual ex Rachel Recchia.

During The Bachelorette's "After the Final Rose" special last month, Tino confronted Rachel for the first time to discuss his infidelity as well as the pair's subsequent broken engagement. Seconds after their vulnerable conversation wrapped, runner-up Aven took the stage to ask Rachel, 26, if she'd like to "get out of here and catch up."

The moment in question occurred as Tino, 28, sat and awkwardly watched everything unfold. But some viewers — and even a few Bachelor Nation stars — criticized the situation, calling out producers for purposely making an already uncomfortable situation more uneasy.

Now Tino has revealed that Aven, 28, actually "reached out" to discuss the matter at hand.

"Aven's a great dude. Aven's super nice and always straightforward and he's super accountable," Tino shared with Nick Viall on the Viall Files podcast. "Much like it says in the media, I don't think he knew I was going to be out there when he came out. And he reached out the night of AFR when I think my phone was off because I was getting too many texts. It was overwhelming."

He continued, "He texted me that night and just said, 'Hey, I'm really sorry. That was tough.' And then we walked on the phone the next day too."

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Tino then called Aven a "class act dude," saying he doesn't believe his former cast mate was "trying to posterize" him at the time. "I think he just went there with the intention of cheering up Rachel," he added.

After getting engaged on the show, fans watched as Tino admitted to cheating on Rachel with another woman. The emotional moment led to their break up.

Addressing why he didn't immediately end the relationship after cheating on her, Tino said on the podcast that it "would have been so unfair to Rachel to break up with her" after doing "something foul."

"She was owed the truth and there's just no way I could see that playing out that would have been fair," he explained, saying that "the guilt started to take over" and it ultimately pushed him to tell her what happened. He also believed that they can "make it through" his "mistake."

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Tino then said the moment of infidelity is something he's still "ashamed of."

"Wish I could have done it differently, like, a million times over," be continued. "… I'm trying to go through and unfold and figure out why my insecurities, my ego could just take over my actions like that and just led me down this path to go to rock bottom."

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Tino also admitted that he still thinks about Rachel "every day" but he has "moved on."

"I think there is somebody who is just more compatible for her out there, and that like gets me even two months," he continued. "If she ever needed something and needed to call me, I'll always answer. I'll always care about her and appreciate our time together. And she set the bar really high for my future fiancée and I really, like, appreciate the hell out of her. But yeah, like, I think it's just time to move on."