After four years of dating, The Bachelor’s Matt James and Rachael Kirkconnell split in January. However, it was certainly not a mutual decision, according to the latter.
On January 16th, Matt announced in an Instagram post that he and Rachael had decided to split. The post appeared so bizarre to fans, they believed the couple might have been trying to hide engagement news.
Two weeks later, Rachael broke her silence on Call Her Daddy, revealing the two were no longer together and that she was blindsided by the breakup. A little less than a month after Matt’s breakup post, he removed it and seems to be on a healing journey to Kenya. Or, is it his way to remove himself from all the breakup backlash?
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Matt James Deleted His Post Breaking Up With Rachael Kirkconnell On Instagram
Matt James Lost Over 100,000 Instagram Followers For His Bizarre Post
Fans noticed that the former The Bachelor Season 25 lead removed his Instagram post in which he announced his shocking split from Rachael. On January 16, Matt shared the news that the two had broken up by sharing a photo of when they met on the reality TV show. Fans found his post to be a little bizarre as he tagged Rachael and wrote the following:
“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,” along with a broken heart emoji.
However, the post has since been deleted from his Instagram.
Matt’s shocking post saw him lose a lot of Instagram followers. According to an Instagram post by Hollywood Life, the food blogger’s follower count dropped from 1 million to under 900,000. “This decline reflects the public’s reaction to the breakup and the subsequent events. Fans have been vocal about their disappointment, with many unfollowing Matt on social media,” the post read.
Just two weeks after his post, Rachael broke her silence in an interview on the Call Her Daddy podcast. After she detailed what led to their split, Matt reportedly lost an additional 10,000 Instagram followers overnight.
Some fans seemed to believe Matt removed the post because he was losing so many followers. “He realized it wasn’t a good look, after losing 60k followers,” a commenter wrote on a Reddit thread. Another commenter wrote, “He is trying to rebrand himself so hard.”
However, others in the same Reddit thread believed Matt was just moving on with his life and didn’t need the post any longer.
“You guys are acting like he’s lost over a million followers, he’ll be fine. He’s deleted the post and moving on in life, you all should too.”
However, the former Bachelor still has posts with his ex, Rachael.
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Matt James Booked A One-Way Ticket To Kenya
Is The Bachelor Star Trying To Escape The Headlines?
Matt James returned to posting on Instagram a little less than a month after he announced his breakup with Rachael. Matt traveled to Kenya where he shared a video that he captioned “morning run with friends in Kenya 🫶🏾🇰🇪.”
On February 8th, Matt detailed his preparations for his trip to Kenya. Sharing why he wanted to travel to the nation, he shared in his video, “My dad was born in Nigeria and I’ve always wanted to come to Africa.” He then shared his preparations, which included getting updated on all his vaccines and applying for a visa. Matt’s caption read that he “booked a one-way ticket.”
“i booked a one way ticket to Kenya, please share Africa recs 🫶🏾🇰🇪.”
His video montage also showed him boarding his 13-hour flight to the African nation where he landed in Nairobi, and had to take an additional 30-minute flight and a car ride to the city of Iten, known for being home to champion runners.
“Iten is home to some of the world’s greatest runners. And training grounds for people from all across the world, who want to experience why this place is so special,” Matt shared.
His video also showed him trying the food in Kenya and speaking to Kenyan children.
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Rachael Kirkconnell Revealed That Matt James Apologized To Her For His Breakup Post
Rachael Kirkconnell Was Blindsided By Matt James Breaking Up With Her
Two weeks after Matt’s breakup post on Instagram, Rachael sat down with Call Her Daddy podcast host Alex Cooper where she gave specific details about what she believes led to their split. In short, the couple were in Tokyo when Rachael struggled to find a place to film their next food adventure. Rachael felt “overwhelmed,” but it snowballed into the couple getting into an argument. Matt later admitted to Rachael that “there were just qualities about me that he worries about having in a wife.”
Matt’s revelation totally blindsided Rachael. In her interview, she shared that the couple were discussing their future plans, which included getting engaged and raising a family.
Rachael also detailed that she learned about Matt’s Instagram post while traveling back from Tokyo. She could not reach him or do anything about it because she was on a 12-hour flight with no WiFi.
“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. 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 twelve hours.”
When asked if she had spoken to Matt since their breakup, Rachael spilled that she did, and he was regretful for his Instagram post.
“But I have spoken with him since all of that, and I do know that he definitely acknowledges that that was not the right decision,” she said.
Rachael also admitted that she doesn’t see herself and Matt reconciling, ever.
The Bachelor
- Release Date
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March 25, 2002
- Network
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Channel 5, BBC Three
- Writers
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Mike Fleiss
