The Bachelor alum Matt James has publicly slammed the franchise, claiming that when he and girlfriend Rachael Kirkconnell really needed its producers, they were nowhere to be found.
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Matt and Rachael briefly split in February 2021 when racially-ignorant and racially-insensitive photos from Rachael's past resurfaced online, including a 2018 image of Rachael attending an antebellum-themed "Old South" party at her Georgia college with sorority sisters.
Rachael was initially silent as the scandal splashed across headlines, but she ultimately issued multiple apologies on social media. Matt explained on The Bachelor: After the Final Rose in March 2021 that he wanted to give Rachael some time to educate herself on racism in society and gain awareness.
"It's like, I've given y'all everything I have, and I've seen how y'all treated me and Rachael through this process," Matt told Us Weekly on an upcoming episode of its "Here for the Right Reasons" podcast.
"There's nothing else I have left to give to y'all aside from the obligation of being here. And that's kind of how we've gone about our relationship."
Matt said he even grew out a long beard -- which he first debuted on TV during The Women Tell All special -- to separate himself from the man who had starred on The Bachelor and the clean-cut image that pleased producers.
Matt acknowledged how he doesn't want to be the type of person who "[calls] out the franchise" and is "petty," but he apparently feels The Bachelor production never had his back, especially when Rachael's racism scandal began spiraling in the press and social media.
Matt even said that he shut down while his The Bachelor season was airing, which explains why he and Rachael appeared to be so cold to each other and uncomfortable on After the Final Rose.
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According to the magazine, Matt wrote in his new book First Impressions -- which is currently available for pre-order and hits shelves on May 3 -- that he and Rachael left the reunion taping hand in hand, comforting each other when no one else was.
"We're not, you know, hosting group dates [on other seasons]. We're not pulling up to these different [Bachelor] events because it's a one-sided relationship, you know what I mean?" Matt explained on the podcast.
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"When Rachael needed them the most, they were nowhere to be found. When I needed them and whatever, it was the cold shoulder. So we're good on our own."
Matt reiterated how he's not trying to start any drama or a battle with Bachelor Nation.
"I don't want to come across as petty because I'm not," Matt insisted.
"I'm so thankful for that opportunity and to meet Rachael and [that] amazing group of women, but it's unfortunate that so many people are left with that sour taste in their mouth after going through something so cool when it doesn't have to be like that."
During Matt and Rachael's brief breakup, Matt recently admitted that he took advantage of his time being single again.
"I returned to bouncing around the country on a post-Bachelor tour. New York, L.A., Miami in a dizzying loop, with other cities sprinkled in between," Matt writes in an excerpt of his book that was obtained by Cosmopolitan magazine in March.
"Rachael and I still had plenty of work left to do. There were many FaceTimes after ATFR. Nightly. For hours. There were uncertainty, understanding, and an ultimatum."
He continues, "I took advantage of our undefined, gray space and reconnected with former flings."
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Matt apparently has some regrets about how he had handled himself after his February split from Rachael.
"I knew I had something special with Rachael and thought we might soon come back together," Matt reportedly writes in his book.
"I wanted to make sure I didn't still have lingering feelings for others I'd known before taking that step. It was a mistake. Rachael got wind and was justifiably hurt and feeling betrayed."
Matt recalled Rachael giving him an ultimatum after Matt was allegedly caught trying to mess around with a woman named Grace in Miami, FL.
"[Rachael said], '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,'" Matt recalls, according to Cosmo.
"After that, there was silence. More painful silence. She stormed out of my life for the last time, I thought."
But Rachael ended up forgiving Matt during a subsequent April 2021 weekend in Atlanta. Matt allegedly told Rachael that his interactions with Grace and any other women meant nothing to him and he truly loved and cared about her.
"We talked for four hours in [her] car [in a parking garage] about all of the issues that had kept us apart -- her mistakes, my mistakes, insecurities, family drama, public perception, and everything else under the sun," Matt reveals in the book.
"I decided to be better going forward. She had done self-work that I hadn't reciprocated. I promised her that I was all in. It was the best decision I could have made," he concluded.
Matt recently said he and Rachael's relationship is thriving due to good communication, spending a lot of time with each other, getting to know each other, and building trust.
The pair has seemingly been inseparable ever since they decided to give their relationship another shot.
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELOR' FRANCHISE COUPLES NOW: WHO IS STILL TOGETHER?? (PHOTOS)
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About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski
