Matt James and Rachael Kirkconnell’s Bachelor love story has been a journey — on and off display.
ABC named the 29-year-old Wake Forest graduate the season 25 lead in June 2020, subsequently revealing that the sequence acquired a document variety of submissions for contestants. Among the many 38 ladies who had the chance to fulfill Matt was Rachael, a 24-year-old graphic designer from Georgia. Whereas she didn’t obtain the coveted first impression rose (Abigail Heringer did), she caught Matt’s eye on evening one. (Season 25 of The Bachelor filmed at Nemacolin Resort within the fall of 2020 and premiered in January.)
“She was lovely, wow,” he stated after she walked out of the limo.
After a number of group dates, Rachael scored one-on-one time with Matt throughout the February 1 episode of the present. Throughout the night portion of the date, the pair revealed they have been falling in love with each other.
“Night time one, what she selected to make use of her time with me to discuss was very intentional. And it wasn’t one thing that wasn’t going to progress our relationship,” Matt stated of Rachael on Us Weekly’s “Right here for the Proper Causes” podcast on February 2. “After which after I noticed on the primary group date, and I’m referring to all these situations that aren’t one-on-ones, as a result of that was how our relationship was lived out, you already know, I hadn’t had that one-on-one time along with her but. And after I had that day to spend along with her and actually get to know her higher, it simply affirmed all the things I had already felt.”
Whereas Matt and Rachael have been dropping L-bombs on the sequence, she was making headlines for her previous racially insensitive actions, together with pictures of her at an “Outdated South”-themed frat get together in 2018. The controversy escalated after Chris Harrison requested for followers to have “grace” for Rachael as they navigated the scandal. The Georgia native broke her silence on February 11, two days after the host’s interview and a couple of month since she initially got here below fireplace. Rachael’s mom, Kim Kirkconnell, additionally defended her daughter and hinted at how the state of affairs would possibly have an effect on their potential glad ending.
“If he chooses Rachael, and stands by her, then you already know Matt does actually love her,” Kim informed The Solar on February 25. “If he chooses Rachael, after which leaves her, then it was not meant to be, and there’s another person on the market for her.”
Throughout The Bachelor: After the Ultimate Rose on Monday, March 15, followers discovered that Matt and Rachael known as it quits whereas the present was airing.
Scroll by way of for an entire timeline of Matt and Rachael’s relationship:
