Many fans were shocked when Matt James announced his split from Rachael Kirkconnell, and she seemingly implied that she was also “blindsided” by the news.
Just hours after Matt, 33, announced that he and Rachael, 28, called it quits on Thursday, January 16, several fans rushed to the last Instagram post she shared in December 2024 to weigh in on the situation.
While one social media user asked if Matt’s account was “hacked,” another person wrote, “The more I’m thinking about it, the more I think he completely blindsided her with this. Give her some grace and let her respond in her own time.”
Rachael has not publicly acknowledged their split, though she shared insight into the situation by “liking” the comment that she was blindsided.
Matt revealed that she and Rachael parted ways by issuing a statement via Instagram. “Father God, give Rachael and I strength to mend our broken hearts. Give us a peace about this decision to end our relationship that transcends worldly understanding,” he wrote alongside a photo of them meeting during their time on The Bachelor. “Shower our friends and family with kindness and love to comfort us. And remind us that our Joy comes from you, Lord.”
The former couple met during season 25 of the ABC reality show and ended up together, though they did not get engaged. They briefly split when Rachael faced backlash amid her racism scandal, which began when insensitive images circulated online of her attending an Old South antebellum-themed fraternity party when she was in college.
Despite briefly breaking up, the pair got back together and seemed to be one of the strongest couples to come out of Bachelor Nation.
In September 2024, Matt gushed about their relationship during an exclusive interview with Life & Style and opened up about the pressure they faced to get engaged.
“Anything will affect you as much as you let it affect you,” he said at the time. “You just have to have thick skin. Being in New York helps a lot. Being a former athlete helps. You just grow accustomed to it. It just goes back to doing what makes you happy and doing what you feel is right. That’s why I think we’re in such a good place.”
After insisting that he and Rachael were happy with the pace they were going at, he said they were “just kind of go by the beat of our own drum.”
“I think that’s why it works for us. We just try to make each other happy and no one else,” he continued. “We just kind of live in our own bubble and do the things that make us happy and that seems to have been working for us.”
The couple – who often shared eating and traveling videos together on social media – appeared to be on good terms just hours before their split was announced. In fact, Matt uploaded a video of enjoying pizza and beer in London via TikTok on Wednesday, January 15. “Pizza pit stop for anyone traveling through London,” he captioned the video.
