Matt & Rachael’s Relationship Timeline Is All Over The Place

Despite their rocky start (more on that later), Matt James and Rachael Kirkconnell were one of Bachelor Nation’s most drama-free couples. A little reminder: After meeting on the reality show, the duo faced some controversy due to Kirkconnell’s “offensive and racist” actions. They broke up, announcing their split on “After The Final Rose” in March 2021. However, by that May, they had reunited.

Since their initial rough patch, James and Kirkconnell’s romance has been pretty smooth sailing — and most of what fans saw of their romance revolved around food vlogging. However, that all came to an end on Jan. 16 when James seemingly “blindsided” Kirkconnell (and everyone else) by posting a 6 a.m. breakup announcement. To make the saga more confusing, James had been posting couples content with Kirkconnell only hours earlier.

Confused? Same. Here’s a full breakdown of James and Kirkconnell’s relationship timeline — including all the details on their latest and most shocking breakup.

September 2020: Matt & Rachael Meet On The Bachelor

In September 2020, James met Kirkconnell when he was the lead on The Bachelor. (His season began airing in January 2021.) Although she did not win James’ first impression rose, Kirkconnell was a front-runner throughout the season.

As the Bachelor, James selected Kirkconnell for a telling one-on-one date — a Cinderella-inspired shopping spree date that often predicts the season’s winner. During the episode, the duo both said they were “falling in love” with each other.

Fall 2020: Matt Gives Rachael His Final Rose

After saying goodbye to his runner-up, Michelle Young, James gave Kirkconnell his final rose. However, he skipped out on one time-honored Bachelor tradition: proposing during the finale.

“When I think about the life I want to live, I think about living that life with you,” he told her at the time. “And I want to leave here with you, and I want to commit to you and to every day building on what we started here.” Kirkconnell agreed, and they left the show in a committed relationship.

March 2021: Matt Announces He Broke Up With Rachael On “After The Final Rose”

After they wrapped filming, James and Kirkconnell reunited to give a relationship update on “After The Final Rose” in March 2021. At the time, James shared that he had broken up with Kirkconnell due to racially insensitive behavior resurfacing from her past.

ICYMI, while the show was airing, Kirkconnell got into some controversy after photos of her at an Antebellum-themed frat party went viral. Kirkconnell apologized for her past actions, and James decided it was best for them to go their separate ways in order to give her time to grow. “That's something you gotta do on your own, and that's why we can't be in a relationship,” he said on the show.

At the time, Kirkconnell commented on the breakup. “I knew from the first night I met Matt that he was something special, and I was praying to share something exceptional between the two of us if that’s what was meant to be,” she wrote on IG. “While I never expected this outcome, I respect his decision completely.”

May 2021: They Got Back Together

Two months after announcing their split, James and Kirkconnell got back together and went Instagram official on May 27, 2021.

But in his 2022 book, First Impressions, James admitted that everything was not what it seemed in his book. Apparently, after filming “After The Final Rose,” the couple was already on good terms again and walked “hand-in-hand” back to the green room.

At that point, James was still talking to other girls, so Kirkconnell decided to issue an ultimatum. “I know we’re not together right now, but I thought we were building toward something. You need to decide if that is what you want or not. I won’t be just another girl you’re talking to.”

A couple of weeks later, James was in Atlanta, Georgia and got a notification that Kirkconnell had started sharing her location with him — and she was only a few blocks away. “She had just unblocked my contact, which triggered the location sharing to return automatically—a crazy coincidence that felt fated,” James explained in his book. They met up, talked for hours, and decided to try again.

2021: Matt & Rachael Enter Their Food Influencer Era

After their stint on The Bachelor, James and Kirkconnell distanced themselves from the franchise. Instead, they created couples content as food influencers, trying different restaurants and meals while traveling around the world.

January 16, 2025: Matt Announces Their Breakup On Instagram

On Jan. 16, James shared the shocking update that he and Kirkconnell had broken up on 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 in his caption. “Shower our friends and family with kindness and love to comfort us. And remind us that our Joy comes from you, Lord 💔.”

Only a few hours earlier, he posted a TikTok video with Kirkconnell, trying out a pizza place in London. Before that, he had been responding to comments about Kirkconnell, complimenting her. The timeline struck fans as confusing with some even thinking his post was a prank or a way to distract fans from a possible engagement.

At the time, Kirkconnell did not share a statement of her own, but she started liking comments about the split. One fan commented on her IG, “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.” Kirkconnell liked the comment, seemingly confirming what it said.

January 18, 2025: Rachael’s Sister Shares Breakup Details

Following James’ surprising announcement, Kirkconnell’s sister, Trinity Kirkconnell, has weighed in on the split on TikTok. When one fan speculated that the TikTok posts with Kirkconnell must have been filmed before the split and posted due to sponsorships, Trinity claimed that was not the case. “Yea so they were still together when he was posting all that… just to give some perspective on the timeline of things,” Trinity replied on TikTok.

Another fan asked, “I’m sorry so they were broken up for less than 15 hours before he announced it?!?” Trinity replied, “try 3 hours.”