Bachelor’s Rachael Kirkconnell Reveals Real Reason Matt James Broke Up With Her – E! NEWS
Bachelor alum Rachael Kirkconnell revealed the details of her breakup from Matt James nearly two weeks after their unexpected split during a Jan. 28 appearance on Call Her Daddy.It’s time for Rachael Kirkconnell’s confessional.Nearly two weeks after her breakup from Matt James, the 28-year-old—who received the Bachelor contestant’s final rose in 2021—is sharing what led to the couple’s demise during a trip to Tokyo.“He said that at the end of the day, there were just qualities about me that he worries about having in a wife,” she said on Call Her Daddy’s Jan. 28 episode. “At the end of the day, [he said] there are things that we aren’t compatible with.”Noting that she often felt that she was the only one who apologized and took responsibility for any tiffs in their relationship, Rachael added of their breakup, “It was just one of those things where he, I think, just had this realization that, ‘I should want to propose to you by this time. 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.’” As for what Rachael told him in response?“I said, ‘Well, I feel like after four years you should know or you should feel ready,’” she continued. “‘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.’”Earlier in the episode, Rachael detailed the days that led up to their breakup, including the positive affirmations Matt had given her while on vacation. “A few days before, we’re talking about how he feels lucky to have me as a partner,” she explained. “And that there’s so many qualities that he loves that I have and that we see relationships with other people where they deal with a lot or put up with a lot of things. And he’s like, ‘It’s just so nice that I just feel very lucky that I can call you my partner.’”They did have a small argument the day before their breakup when Rachael picked what she felt like was a disappointing dinner place for them to eat at in Tokyo. She said she got emotional and let two tears slip during the meal, leading Matt to question why she was so upset and seemingly overreacted. Still, Rachael recalled that “everything was fine.” Ultimately, though, their relationship ended up taking its final bow.“It was just one of those things where [I] was like, ‘Do you want to make this work?” she said. “‘Do you think that it’s me or is it something with you? Are you scared or is it really me? Is your perfect person somewhere out there? Is it not me?’ And he came to the conclusion that he didn’t think it was me and he said he just didn’t want me to end up resenting him by wasting more of my time if it wouldn’t happen.”She continued, “He just said, ‘You’re beautiful, smart and funny and you’ll find someone, you’ll find a guy that will love you for you.’ He just didn’t think that it was him. But it was just a lot to hear at once because a few days before I’m hearing the opposite.”According to Rachael, it was just a few hours later that Matt announced their breakup on Instagram while she was on an airplane leaving Japan.Keep reading for more of the biggest bombshells from Rachael’s interview…Rachael Kirkconnell Says She and Matt James Discussed Engagement Before SplitBefore they abruptly broke up after four years of dating, Rachael Kirkconnell says she and her now-ex Matt James discussed getting engaged, as well as plans to start a family in the future, during her Jan. 28 interview on Call Her Daddy. “We talked about rings,” she said. “He told me a few months ago to start, you know, saving some things, picking things out or that we should go look at some—and that was a big deal, I would say, for him to say. That’s when I was like, ‘Wow, okay. He really is on board with this.’ That was such a green flag to me and I felt like the longer we were together, the more he was able to talk about it and I think at first, I could tell it was something that did scare him a lot or it was like a really hard thing for him to talk about and it just seemed easier and easier as our relationship went on, so I felt like that was a good sign.”Rachael Kirkconnell Details Tense Moments That Led to BreakupDuring their trip to Tokyo, as Rachael explained, the couple got into small arguments stemming from Rachael feeling “overwhelmed” over choosing places for them to eat and for Matt to film his content. Those disagreements then snowballed into the bigger issues that were between them. “We had gotten into an argument right then and there, like walking in the street, we skipped lunch, we went back to the hotel and just ended up having a bigger conversation,” the 28-year-old explained. “We were just a little irritated with one another. But then it was like, okay, now that we’re back here again where you’re annoyed with me, I’m annoyed with you. I feel like you’re in the wrong. You feel like I’m in the wrong. He really just kind of let out everything that I guess he had been feeling for a while. I don’t know.”Rachael Kirkconnell Reveals Real Reason Matt James Broke Up With HerAccording to Rachael, Matt said that “at the end of the day there were just qualities about me that he worries about having in a wife.” “Like at the end of the day, there are things that we aren’t compatible with,” she recalled. “It was just one of those things where he I think just 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.’” “He said that, you know, ‘Maybe one day he would get there, but he doesn’t feel ready now.’ And I told him, I said, ‘Well, I feel like after four years you should know or you should feel ready. And if you don’t then that’s not a good thing. We probably shouldn’t be together if you don’t feel like that after four years because you know me better than anyone.’”Rachael Kirkconnell Details Learning About Matt James’ Breakup Post on AirplaneAs the Bachelor Nation star explained, as she boarded a plane to jet out of Tokyo, that’s when she was alerted that their split had now become public, thanks to Matt’s Instagram post announcing their split—and that she was then unable to access Wi-Fi for another 12 hours. “We’re literally getting ready to take off and my phone blows up,” she noted. “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.” “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 continued. “I’m still in total shock, so then knowing like the whole world is seeing this. I’m like, ‘This is so crazy. I can’t even wrap my mind around this right now.’”Rachael Kirkconnell Shares Whether She’s Spoken to Ex Matt James After BreakupNoting that she still “would love to know” the exact reason behind Matt’s social media post, Rachael noted the move “really finally just put a nail in the coffin.” “But I have spoken with him since all of that,” she said, “and I do know that he definitely acknowledges that that was not the right decision.”Rachael Kirkconnell Reveals Whether She’d Reconcile With Matt James“I don’t think I can ‘cause I think when someone says those things that he said, you know, ‘I don’t think you’re my person. I don’t see us getting married,’ I think that’s when you have to call it quits,” she explained on Call Her Daddy. “Just the way that he handled all of this and this post and everything. I forgive him, but I just don’t think I can be with someone that—I felt like he disrespected me at the end of the day doing that.” She added, “It’s just one of those things where you have to stand up for yourself even if you don’t want to. Of course, there’s part of me that [wishes] we could just get back together and pretend that this never happened, but that’s not the case and I think as hard as it is, I think the right decision is to stand up for myself and be on my own.”Your source for entertainment news, celebrities, celeb news, and celebrity gossip. Check out the hottest fashion, photos, movies and TV shows!© 2025 E! Entertainment Television, LLC A Division of NBCUniversal. All rights reserved.
