Another “Bachelor” couple bites the dust.
After Matt James and Rachael Kirkconnell’s shocking breakup, Kirkconnell, 28, appeared on Alex Cooper’s “Call Her Daddy” podcast and revealed what went wrong for the pair.
“He said that at the end of the day, there were just qualities about me that he worries about having in a wife,” Kirkconnell explained on Tuesday’s episode.
“[He said] there are things that we aren’t compatible with and the whole accountability and saying sorry and all that was really the main thing.”
She continued, “It was just one of those things where he had this realization that ‘I should want to propose to you by this time. Like, at this point in our relationship, I should be wanting those things and I should be ready for that. But I’m not still, I still don’t feel like we’re ready or I don’t feel like I’m ready. I don’t know if I ever see myself proposing to you. I can’t actually see myself married to you.’”
Kirkconnell got emotional as she recalled what she told James, 33, in response.
“I said, ‘Well, I feel like after four years you should know or you should feel ready,’” she told Cooper, 30. “‘We probably shouldn’t be together if you don’t feel like that after four years because you know me better than anyone. I know you better than anyone, so you should know by now if you see this for the long haul or not.’”
The former couple were in Tokyo when they broke up. Kirkconnell said she was overly worried choosing a restaurant after their initial choice fell through.
“It was just one of those things where I’m tired, cranky, emotional, on my period, feeling terrible, overwhelmed with looking for a dinner spot for an hour, and we get there, and it was just a disappointment,” she recalled, noting food reviews is part of James’ job. “I started tearing up at dinner.”
This led to James questioning Kirkconnell about why she was so upset.
“He just was trying to tell me like, ‘It’s not that serious. Like, it’s not that big of a deal.’ But then he was concerned about me getting so upset,” the Georgia native explained. “He was like, ‘There was no reason for you to get upset like that.’ And he found it concerning that I got that emotional, I guess.”
Kirkconnell added, “I felt like I was being punished for crying.”
James dumped Kirkconnell the next day — and didn’t give her a heads up when he announced the news on Instagram three hours later.
“We’re literally getting ready to take off and my phone blows up. It’s one of my best friends and it says, ‘Rach,’ with a bunch of question marks, and as soon as I saw that, I’m like, ‘Oh my gosh, how does she know,’ and then she texts me again and said, ‘I saw Matt’s post. Is this real life?’ And that’s how I found out that he posted,” Kirkconnell explained
“So then, literally the plane is taking off and I see his post, and that’s it. I don’t have any service or anything for the next 12 hours, so I’m freaking out because, you know, just got broken up with and now, a few hours later, it’s for the whole world to see and I’m still trying to process it,” she said.
Kirkconnell admitted she’s “still in total shock” over the split, and said she hasn’t made a public statement “because I’m processing this just like everyone else is.”
She also revealed that they talked about getting engaged and having kids together before the split, though they still weren’t living together.
“It’s confusing to look back on now because when we would talk about things, he always seemed like we were on the same page privately and publicly,” she noted. “It’s just one of those things you replay a lot over and over again because the words were there … but the actions obviously were not.”
James confirmed his split from Kirkconnell on Instagram on Jan. 16.
Alongside a photo of the pair meeting on “The Bachelor,” James wrote, “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. Shower our friends and family with kindness and love to comfort us. And remind us that our Joy comes from you, Lord.”
The exes fell in love on the 25th season of the ABC reality show which aired in early 2021.
While the season was airing, Kirkconnell found herself at the center of a big controversy. Photos of her attending an antebellum-themed party in college circulated online, leading to major outrage from fans.
James — who was the first black Bachelor — briefly broke up with Kirkconnell amid the fallout, but they got back together after the finale following Kirkconnell’s public apology.