After being together for four years following their inital meeting on The Bachelor, Matt James and Rachael Kirkconnell have seemingly broken up — but some fans aren’t buying that the pair has split. The former franchise lead shared the news via Instagram on Jan. 16 (at 6 a.m. EST, mind you) with a very religious caption revealing he and Kirkconnell had chosen “to end our relationship.” James even attached a photo of them during their first meeting on the reality show.
TikTok creator Gabby White shared her take on James’s Jan. 16 breakup post with some incredibly valid points arguing that he and Kirkconnell may not be broken up after all, and honestly, I’m pretty convinced.
In James’s breakup announcement, he asked, “Father God [to] give Rachael and I strength to mend our broken hearts.” From there, he added the note I mentioned about ending their romance, referring to the decision as something “that transcends worldly understanding.”
Why would James post this? I’m not sure, because he and Kirkconnell have been in London together for the past week, and James had a shared picture of him and Kirkconnell eating pizza together on his Instagram Stories at the time of the breakup post. Not to mention, James used a photo of himself and Kirkconnell from their time on The Bachelor, which White pointed out as weird because “I feel like their whole relationship they’ve tried to distance themselves from that franchise.”
It does seem quite odd that James would use a photo from his and Kirkconnell’s reality TV days, especially considering they have a million other photos together and it (of course) reverts attention to the scandal from Season 25 that ultimately led to their initial breakup. If anything, James should have posted this announcement to Instagram in 2021 when he and Kirkconnell first broke up.
White also acknowledged James’s religious caption, stating that “the tone of the caption was giving ransom. It was giving threat.” Above all, one of the most peculiar parts of the breakup post was that it wasn’t a joint statement between James and Kirkconnell. In 2025, everyone knows it is bible for public figures to share a statement about the ending of their relationships. “They are so media-trained, there’s no way in no world would they not post a joint statement,” White added.
All of this evidence gathered by White has led me to believe James might have been hacked, and he and Kirkconnell are actually still happily together. If that’s the case, I’m hoping we’ll hear Kirkconnell’s take on the situation, because the longer she doesn’t address the breakup post, the more I’m going to believe this Bachelor Nation couple has actually arrived at Splitsville.