Rachel Virginia Gatina was introduced as a bad girl and rival to Brooke Davis, before becoming good friends with Brooke and a friend to Mouth. She was originally obese before undergoing plastic surgery treatments to alter her appearance before moving to Tree Hill. In season four she tries to break up Nathan and Haley but fails which causes Haley to confront her.

In the time gap between seasons four and five, she worked for Brooke's company "Clothes Over Bros" and began using drugs which forced Brooke to let her go. However, after finding her lying unconscious from an overdose in her private New York apartment, Brooke decides to bring her back to Tree Hill to look after her. Rachel then (after being taunted by Victoria that she'll never really recover from her addiction and is kidding herself) steals Brooke's money and leaves.

In season seven she returns and is married to Dan Scott and is the mastermind behind his Redemption TV series. After realizing the sort of person she is, Dan gives all his money to charity and divorces her, leaving Rachel with nothing.