“He’s such a strong person and he blows me away with his determination and the courage that it takes to actually commit to stop drinking alcohol, I admire that so much,” Raquel explained.
“And the fact that he’s done it for me, I know he did it for me, but he’s also doing it for himself and he’s seeing that change and he tells me every single day, ‘I could never go back to drinking alcohol,'” Raquel continued. “He says, ‘I can’t believe I was partying every single night.’ That’s such a lifestyle and he’s saying now, his new lifestyle is going to the gym every single day and he’s trying to gain weight and gain muscle mass and he’s now 170 pounds and he’s so proud of it and I’m so proud of him. And I’m just like falling more in love with him every single day.”
VPR audiences will also see more of James and Raquel’s romance during season nine. “I feel very blessed that James and I are kind of like stepping into the forefront, if you will a little bit now and having the support system like Scheana [Shay] and Ariana [Madix] and the people that have been supporting us since day one, by our side, just makes it that much better,” Raquel revealed. “Every single time going into filming, I would get super nervous, but this is the first season that I felt excited about it. I think it’s gonna be a great season overall.”