diff --git a/packages/frontend/src/components/RichTextEditor/utils.test.ts b/packages/frontend/src/components/RichTextEditor/utils.test.ts
index 049e39a1e..b025fe741 100644
--- a/packages/frontend/src/components/RichTextEditor/utils.test.ts
+++ b/packages/frontend/src/components/RichTextEditor/utils.test.ts
@@ -1,7 +1,11 @@
 import escapeHTML from 'escape-html'
 import { describe, expect, it } from 'vitest'
 
-import { removeProblematicWhitespace, substituteOldTemplates } from './utils'
+import {
+  removeProblematicWhitespace,
+  substituteForPreview,
+  substituteOldTemplates,
+} from './utils'
 
 const varInfo = new Map<
   string,
@@ -169,6 +173,47 @@ describe('replaceOldTemplates', () => {
   })
 })
 
+describe('substituteForPreview', () => {
+  it('replaces a variable span with its resolved value from varInfo', () => {
+    const input =
+      'Hi <span data-type="variable" data-id="step.ff5000f5-021c-4488-b6c2-c582c42ba3cf.hello" data-label="hello" data-value="world">{{step.ff5000f5-021c-4488-b6c2-c582c42ba3cf.hello}}</span>!'
+    expect(substituteForPreview(input, varInfo)).toEqual('Hi world!')
+  })
+
+  it('replaces a table-variable span with its resolved value', () => {
+    const input =
+      '<div data-type="tableVariable" data-id="step.ff5000f5-021c-4488-b6c2-c582c42ba3cf.hello|abcd" data-label="hello" data-value="world">{{step.ff5000f5-021c-4488-b6c2-c582c42ba3cf.hello|abcd}}</div>'
+    expect(substituteForPreview(input, varInfo)).toEqual('world')
+  })
+
+  it('substitutes legacy {{step.…}} patterns in plain text nodes', () => {
+    const input =
+      '<p>Aloha {{step.ff5000f5-021c-4488-b6c2-c582c42ba3cf.hello}}, meet {{step.ff5000f5-021c-4488-b6c2-c582c42ba3cf.papa}}.</p>'
+    expect(substituteForPreview(input, varInfo)).toEqual(
+      '<p>Aloha world, meet mama.</p>',
+    )
+  })
+
+  it('falls back to data-value when var is missing from varInfo', () => {
+    const input =
+      '<span data-type="variable" data-id="step.ff5000f5-021c-4488-b6c2-c582c42ba3cf.missing" data-label="missing" data-value="stale-fallback">{{step.ff5000f5-021c-4488-b6c2-c582c42ba3cf.missing}}</span>'
+    expect(substituteForPreview(input, varInfo)).toEqual('stale-fallback')
+  })
+
+  it('falls back to empty string when both varInfo and data-value are missing', () => {
+    const input =
+      '<span data-type="variable" data-id="step.ff5000f5-021c-4488-b6c2-c582c42ba3cf.missing">{{step.ff5000f5-021c-4488-b6c2-c582c42ba3cf.missing}}</span>'
+    expect(substituteForPreview(input, varInfo)).toEqual('')
+  })
+
+  it('returns empty string for nullish input', () => {
+    const inputs = [undefined, null] as unknown as string[]
+    for (const input of inputs) {
+      expect(substituteForPreview(input, varInfo)).toEqual('')
+    }
+  })
+})
+
 describe('removeProblematicWhitespace', () => {
   it('should remove non-breaking space', () => {
     const input = 'Lorem​Ipsum​Dolor​Sit​Amet​Co'
diff --git a/packages/frontend/src/components/RichTextEditor/utils.ts b/packages/frontend/src/components/RichTextEditor/utils.ts
index 43de64b1c..58dd3d7b4 100644
--- a/packages/frontend/src/components/RichTextEditor/utils.ts
+++ b/packages/frontend/src/components/RichTextEditor/utils.ts
@@ -151,6 +151,56 @@ export function substituteOldTemplates(
   return substitutedDom.outerHTML
 }
 
+/**
+ * Renders RichTextEditor HTML to plain final-form HTML, suitable for feeding
+ * into an email preview pipeline.
+ *
+ * - Variable / table-variable spans are replaced with their resolved value:
+ *   prefer the entry in `varInfo`, fall back to the node's own `data-value`
+ *   attribute (kept current by `recursiveSubstitute`).
+ * - Legacy `{{step.…}}` patterns remaining in plain text nodes are resolved
+ *   via `simpleSubstitute`.
+ */
+export function substituteForPreview(
+  html: string,
+  varInfo: VariableInfoMap,
+): string {
+  if (!html) {
+    return ''
+  }
+
+  const root = parse(html)
+
+  function processChildren(parent: NodeHTMLElement): void {
+    const newChildren: Node[] = []
+    for (const child of parent.childNodes) {
+      if (child instanceof NodeHTMLElement) {
+        const dataType = child.getAttribute('data-type')
+        const dataId = child.getAttribute('data-id')
+        if (
+          (dataType === 'variable' || dataType === 'tableVariable') &&
+          dataId != null
+        ) {
+          const fromMap = varInfo.get(`{{${dataId}}}`)?.testRunValue
+          const fallback = child.getAttribute('data-value') ?? ''
+          newChildren.push(new TextNode(fromMap ?? fallback))
+          continue
+        }
+        processChildren(child)
+        newChildren.push(child)
+      } else if (child instanceof TextNode) {
+        newChildren.push(new TextNode(simpleSubstitute(child.rawText, varInfo)))
+      } else {
+        newChildren.push(child)
+      }
+    }
+    parent.childNodes = newChildren
+  }
+
+  processChildren(root)
+  return root.outerHTML
+}
+
 export function getPopoverPlacement(
   editor: Editor | null,
 ): PlacementWithLogical {