The time has finally come! Rachael Kirkconnell has OFFICIALLY spoken out about her and Matt James’s breakup. On Jan. 28, Kirckconnell appeared on an episode of Alex Cooper’s Call Her Daddy podcast, where she spilled the tea about her breakup with the former Bachelor lead nearly two weeks after he announced their split on Instagram.
Kirkconnell told Cooper that while she and James were vacationing in Tokyo, they got into an argument that ultimately opened a can of worms.
“He kind of let out everything he’d been feeling. He said that at the end of the day there were just qualities about me that he worries about having in a wife,” Kirkconnell said. “At the end of the day, there are things that we aren’t compatible with and the whole accountability and saying sorry and all that was really the main thing. It was just one of those things where he 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.’”
Kirkconnell continued, “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,” she said. “I know you better than anyone, so you should know by now if you see this for the long haul or not.’” She added that James “didn’t think” she was his “perfect person.”
Two days before her CHD appearance, Kirkconnell seemingly confirmed that she and James were done when she shut down reconciliation rumors by commenting, “hmm wasn’t me lol,” on a post by celeb Instagram account Deuxmoi that claimed the former couple was spotted together.
On Jan. 16, James announced the pair’s split by sharing a photo of them from his season of The Bachelor alongside the caption, “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. “Shower our friends and family with kindness and love to comfort us. And remind us that our Joy comes from you, Lord.”
The post sent fans into a state of shock. But major tea about this breakup was spilled when Rachael’s sister, Trinity Kirkconnell, shot off a flurry of responses online in an effort to give some insight into the couple’s breakup. Trinity spilled the tea for us on Jan. 18, when she responded to a comment about James’s London trip with Rachael. “Yea so they were still together when he was posting all that…just to give some perspective on the timeline of things.”
Of course, this confirmed some fan speculations and gave clarity on Rachael’s side of things before her response. Trinity respinded, “try 3 hours” under another user’s post that read, “I’m sorry so they were broken up for less than 15 hours before he announced it?!?”
While on CHD, Kirkconnell confirmed that James posted his IG announcement 2-3 hours after their split, which didn’t even give her time to grieve. “I don’t even think you should post a breakup announcement the same day you break up,” she said. “Let alone not even give me a warning that you’re doing it.”