Everything Rachael Kirkconnell Wants In Her Next Boyfriend

Rachael Kirkconnell and Matt James met and began dating during season 25 of The Bachelor. The reality television show hasn't produced a lot of successful couplings over the years. However, it was clear to the viewing audience that, despite their challenges, Rachael and Matt were trying to make it work.

The two first split after some past social media posts came back to haunt Rachael. Due to the racially insensitive nature of the material, Matt broke things off and the two went their separate ways. However, the two rekindled their romance and got back together just a few months later. Unfortunately, that also led to a breakup. Despite the turn of events, Rachael already knows what she wants in her next boyfriend.

Rachael Revealed That She Wants Her Future Boyfriend To Be A 'Simp'

Rachael had been dating former Bachelor Matt James for four years. Then, the couple suddenly split after the holidays. Rachael would reveal on the Call Her Daddy podcast that this came "definitely out of nowhere." The breakup happened in the wake of an incident while the two were vacationing in Tokyo, Japan. Matt announced the split on Instagram just hours after it happened.

Rachael opened up further about the split in a chat with Cosmopolitan. During the interview, Rachael said she is "still trying to grasp everything and figure out a new normal."

"I don’t know if it’s shock, but I don’t think I’ve registered it still. It’s only been a few weeks," she told the magazine. "It’s easier said than done. Some days are easier than others, but I’m feeling okay." According to Rachael, she is directing her attention elsewhere and working on "telling myself that nothing matters as much as I think it does."

Rachel, who competed during Season 25 of The Bachelor, said that she has been reaching out to other women in her life for support. According to the former reality contestant, her fellow Bachelor contestants have been "very supportive" since the breakup. "I think when you’re watching the show, it’s easy to forget that the women on each season spend so much time together that real friendships are formed," Rachael said. "It’s just nice to know that even after all the years that have gone by, they’re still in my corner at the end of the day."

But Rachael said that her friends outside the reality world are there for her as well. At the time, she revealed they planned a "last minute" Valentine's Day trip together in Las Vegas. "It just happened to work out, and I feel like it’ll be a great distraction."

Rachael definitely has a lot to adjust to, since she is now dealing with a breakup in front of the viewing public. Rachael said that she is "working a lot on my self-confidence and feeling good about myself regardless of what others say or think about me. The biggest thing I’ve been doing, whether I’m rolling out of bed in the morning or getting ready, is looking in the mirror and instead of picking myself apart, telling myself, 'You’re beautiful, you’re a rock star, and you’re gonna have a great day.'"

However, Rachael isn't opposed to finding someone else. In fact, she revealed what she hopes to find in a future partner. She said, "I honestly just want him to be a simp."

Rachael And Matt Have Had A Bumpy Relationship History Before Splitting Up For Good

During her season of The Bachelor, past social media activity of Rachael's began surfacing online, which included racially insensitive behavior. Among the things fans called out was Rachael attending an antebellum-themed party while she was in college. Rachael apologized in an Instagram post in February 2021. In the statement, Rachael wrote that she was "learning and will continue to learn how to be antiracist" and wanted to be "held accountable for my actions."

It was announced that Rachael and Matt broke up during the "After the Final Rose" episode special the following month. While explaining the reason behind the split, Matt said that Rachael "might not understand what it means to be Black in America." He also said that he wanted to "take a step back and allow her to put in that work."

After the episode aired, Rachael took to Instagram again to share more about her time on the show. In her post, she wrote, "while i never expected this outcome, i respect his decision completely."

"i truly believe he was the love of my life," Rachael went on. "he will always hold a piece of my heart. i’ll always be hopeful and believe what’s meant to be will be."

Matt seemed to believe that Rachael had been putting in the necessary work, because the two rekindled their romance a few months later. Matt opened up about the new chapter with Rachael on the Pomp podcast that May. "Everything we've been through, everything she's been through, she's stuck right by my side," Matt said. "She's continued to have a positive attitude towards everything. It's one of the many things I love about her."

Matt opened up to People a year later, where he told the outlet that the challenges the couple went through together "prepared us for our future."

"It was crazy," Matt said. "It felt like the world was against us. Some people felt like the situation was blown out of proportion and others felt like it hadn't gotten enough attention. We were just trying to enjoy each other and grow our relationship without having to deal with people we didn't even know weighing in."

In February 2024, Matt spoke with People again and discussed his future plans with Rachael. He said that while he didn't want to rush things, especially given the history of reality couples, he shared Rachael's vision of getting married. Matt told the outlet that he was "excited for what the future looks like." “We wouldn't be together if that wasn't the same goal,” Matt said.

He also talked about what he hoped for when it came time for him to pop the question. Matt said that when the time came, it would "be something special because Rachael's very special.” However, during her Call Her Daddy interview, Rachael said she didn't think Matt saw her as marriage material.

Rachael Denied Rumors Of Cheating And Detailed Their Final Emotional Exchange

On January 15, Matt posted a video of the two together in London. Just one day later, he posted another update for his followers. However, this would be a complete turn of events, as it was announcing their breakup. This post has since been deleted from his page.

“Father God, give Rachael and I strength to mend our broken hearts,” Matt 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 from you, Lord 💔.”

Rachael seemed to admit that she was blindsided by the relationship coming to an end. Days after Matt announced their breakup, she liked comments on Instagram suggesting the split blindsided her. This was later confirmed by Rachael during her appearance on Call Her Daddy. Rachel told listeners that she read Matt's breakup announcement on Instagram just minutes before her plane from Japan took off. According to Rachael, the two had already broken up, but she didn't know he was going to post about it. She also didn't have Wi-Fi and was "in total shock" for the entire 12-hour flight.

The day before the Call Her Daddy episode was released, Deuxmoi posted a fan-submitted sighting which claimed Matt and Rachael were spotted together in New York City. This caused fans to speculate that the two had gotten back together once again. However, Rachael said this wasn't true, writing in the comments, "hmm wasn’t me lol."

Rachael also spoke to TMZ while at an airport, saying that a breakup is "nothing you can prepare for, so yeah, you just take it one day at a time." There had been rumors of cheating, which Rachael denied. However, she did say that she was not planning on getting back together with Matt. "Yeah, we're out," she confirmed.

Rachael talked more about the infidelity rumors during her appearance on Call Her Daddy, where she said, "The only thing that made me really sad was reading people saying that he cheated or that I insinuated he cheated."

"He did not cheat. I don't think he ever cheated," Rachael said. "At the end of the day, he's at least a good enough guy to be faithful. I never worried about that, and so I just don't want people thinking that he was this unfaithful guy that broke my trust or cheated or anything."

Rachael also discussed the incident in Tokyo which led to their split. According to the reality star, the incident began with the two disagreeing on which restaurant to go to for dinner. This is what led to an intense exchange which “open[ed] up a can of worms." "We didn't have an argument, but I was feeling very overwhelmed. I was trying so hard to find a good dinner spot for us. I was putting so much pressure on finding a good spot because he cares," Rachael said, explaining that part of Matt's career is to attend "good food stops."

Rachael said that when she asked Matt for help choosing a restaurant, he said he was busy. He said, "It doesn't matter where we go, we can go literally anywhere, just pick somewhere." "He kept saying, 'It's not a big deal, it doesn't matter,' but I felt like it was a big deal and it did matter," Rachael said.

"I felt like whenever we would go somewhere and it was bad, it was just disappointing," Rachael said. "It's important because you only have so many meals in the day ... I'm trying to just make sure he's getting good content for our trip because I know it's important to him and it's something that we'll both post about."

Rachael said she was disappointed in the restaurant she chose and felt like she let Matt down. "He was just trying to tell me, 'It's not that serious, it's not that big of a deal,'" she remembered. "But then he was concerned about me getting so upset."

Rachael added, "He was trying to express to me, 'If you get emotional about little things like this, what is going to happen in life when something really terrible happens? How are you going to be able to react to things that are actually really scary or disappointing or sad?' It felt like I was being punished for crying."