Bachelor Nation fan favorites Matt James, 33, and Rachael Kirkconnell, 28, have split after four years together. Matt shared the news via Instagram on Thursday, January 23, telling fans he and Rachael decided to end their relationship. New details about the breakup and what led to it have emerged in recent days. If you need a refresher, we have you covered.
Here is everything we know about Matt and Rachael’s sudden split.
Matt James shares breakup news on Instagram
On Thursday, Matt shared a post alerting fans that he and Rachael were no longer together. The former Bachelor shared a photo of him and Rachael from his season alongside a lengthy caption.
“Father God, give Rachael and I strength to mend our broken hearts,” he wrote. “Give us a peace about this decision to end our relationship that transcends worldly understanding. Shower our friends and family with kindness and love to comfort us. And remind us that our joy [comes] for you, Lord.”
Fans were shocked by the split considering he shared footage of his and Rachael’s romantic trip to London earlier this month.
Bachelor Nation voiced their feelings about the split in a Reddit thread.
“I’m actually so sad about this. I really thought they were a good match,” one fan wrote.
Rachael hints she was “blindsided” by the split
Rachael has yet to publicly comment on the split, but she did like a fan comment that suggested she was blindsided by the sudden breakup.
The comment read, “The more I’m thinking about it the more I think he completely blindsided her with this.”
Rachael’s sister, Trinity Kirkconnell, shared her two cents in a series of TikTok comments. In one comment, she revealed that Matt and Rachael were “still together” when he posted the breakup announcement.
“They were still together when he was posting all that,” she wrote, E! News reported, “Just to give some perspective on the timeline of things.”
An inside source told The Sun (U.S.) that Rachael was the one who ended the relationship.
“I will say this, he wouldn’t commit. She basically gave him an ultimatum to propose by the end of 2024 and that didn’t happen,” the source revealed. “Years of dragging her along. She tried and tried. It’s been really hard on her, she really cared and thought this was going to work.”
Matt has not commented on the statements made to The Sun.
Speculation that Rachael was waiting on a proposal arose in June 2024 after Rachael hinted she and Matt’s future was uncertain in an Instagram comment. She replied to a fan who asked, “when’s the ring coming?” by writing, “probs never.”
Matt and Rachael met on The Bachelor Season 25
The former couple met on Season 25 of The Bachelor, which aired in 2021. Matt gave Rachael the “Final Rose” in the finale but chose not to propose to the 24-year-old. They briefly split after photos of Rachael attending an antebellum-themed party in college resurfaced. The Georgia native posted a public apology on her Instagram, apologizing for her “ignorance.”
“At one point, I didn’t recognize how offensive and racist my actions were, but that doesn’t excuse them,” she wrote. “My age or when it happened does not excuse anything. They are not ok or acceptable in any sense. I was ignorant, but my ignorance was racist.”
In the Season 25 After the Final Rose special, Matt encouraged Rachael to “do the work” to understand the gravity of her actions.
“When I saw those things that were floating around the internet, it broke my heart,” he said. The two took some time apart but reconciled in the spring of 2021.
Matt spoke about his relationship with Rachael in a May 2021 interview with WSJ, telling the outlet they had “critical conversations” about race before getting back together.
“I think the best way to put it is that we can have critical conversations about being in this relationship and what I need in a partner — especially if that woman isn’t Black — to understand what comes with me and my life and being Black,” he said “It’s on people who care about being allies to do the work to be truly antiracist, and I think it’s unfair to leave people without the ability to unlearn and be better.”
Season 29 of The Bachelor premieres on Monday, January 27 at 8/7c on ABC.
TELL US – WERE YOU SURPRISED BY MATT JAMES AND RACHAEL KIRKCONNELL’S BREAKUP? WHO IS YOUR FAVORITE COUPLE IN BACHELOR NATION?
