Bachelor Nation
Breakup Drama! Ben Higgins & Ashley Iaconetti Sources Thought Matt and Rachael Were Getting Engaged
Matt James and Rachael Kirkconnell gathered quite an impressive audience within the span of their relationship. They began their journey on The Bachelor, yet over time, the duo even reached fans who had never watched the franchise. As they hopped around the world, discovering the best food spots, they seemingly fell more in love with each bite they took — until their relationship came to a sudden end.
James announced their split on January 16. For many on the internet, it felt like time stood still. Everyone was shocked. Bachelor Nation favorite Ashley Iaconetti couldn’t even believe it and assumed it was a prank.
Fellow Bachelor Nation alum Ben Higgins didn’t buy it. “What kind of prank is a breakup post?” he firmly stated on his and Iaconetti’s Almost Famous podcast episode discussing the split. The 36-year-old quickly admitted that when she really thought about the facts, she realized it couldn’t be false. James, a self-professed religious person, wouldn’t use a prayer in that way.
That wasn’t the only thing the two noticed. They were the most confused by James’ timing. Just a couple of hours before the separation post, the avid runner scheduled a London vlog in which he and Kirkconnell enjoyed some pizza.
Higgins revealed that “sources that we have that are very close to Matt and Rachael… when they woke up this morning and saw this post, they expected it to be a proposal post.” Apparently, the “people close to them had no idea that things were happening.”
ngAnother aspect Higgins mentioned was the odd choice of photo. “They have done a tremendous job separating themselves from the show,” he said. Afterward, he summed up all the ways James continuously tried to disassociate himself from the franchise. Then, he picked a snapshot of an instance on The Bachelor.
Iaconetti countered Higgins’ reasonings as she mentioned, “It’s also the moment that they met.”
Speculating as to why they might have decided to end things, Higgins referred to Reddit, thinking it could’ve been the demand for an engagement coming up soon. Instead, it went in another direction.
Allowing to let this sink in, Higgins began to give out some advice. “If you’ve been dating somebody in your later twenties, thirties, forties, fifties, sixties, seventies, eighties, as the Golden show does.” He continued, “For four years, and the two of you are on a different page when it comes to the future, it’s probably time to step away.”
