The Bachelor alum Matt James has gushed about his girlfriend Rachael Kirkconnell after three years of dating.

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Matt gave his final rose to Rachael on The Bachelor's Season 25 finale that filmed in late 2020, and despite a two-month split in early 2021, they've been going strong as a couple ever since April 2021.

And Matt recently took to Instagram Stories to pay tribute to Rachael in celebration of her 27th birthday.

RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELOR' FRANCHISE COUPLES NOW: WHO IS STILL TOGETHER?? (PHOTOS)

Matt posted a video compilation of sweet moments he's shared with Rachael over the years.

"Happy birthday Gamora. People always ask why I have your number saved as 'Gamora' and it's a simple answer," Matt wrote late last week, according to BachelorNation.com.

"Because in the most unlikely of circumstances, against all odds.. Star-Lord (me, obviously) and Gamora (YOU) found each other and fell in love. You're the best part of every day, I love you and can't wait to create more memories with you."

Matt reportedly added, "We're meant for each other," along with multiple heart emojis.

Rachael, meanwhile, uploaded a picture with her boyfriend via Instagram Stories and wrote, "I love celebrating with you!"

In July, Matt and Rachael discussed the pressure they feel to get engaged, especially since they fell in love on a show like The Bachelor.

Rachael joked with Us Weekly how she and Matt often "forget" they met on a reality show, but forgetting probably becomes more difficult when Bachelor Nation constantly asks them if they've broken up or if an engagement is on the horizon.

"I don't get annoyed by any of that stuff. I get it," Matt told Us in a joint interview with Rachael at the time.

"We post and share every aspect of our lives. So for people to be curious means that we're, you know, keeping them in the loop and we want them in the loop."

Rachael agreed that she understands the hype surrounding her relationship.

"They've been waiting for an engagement since the finale of the show," Rachael acknowledged.

But The Bachelor winner asked fans to consider the fact she and Matt weren't able to spend a lot of time together while filming The Bachelor and so their romance truly started in the real world, away from cameras.

"I do just want to put into perspective for people -- if we were in a normal relationship, met out on the street in New York and we've been dating going on three years... it's not that weird [to not be engaged]. I feel like that's pretty normal," Rachael explained earlier this summer.

"I feel like we're doing all the right things to take our relationship to the next step."

The Bachelor winner and Matt gushed about how they're extremely happy with their relationship.

"Matt really is just my best friend," Rachael told the magazine.

"I think at the end of the day, it's just really fun to live the life that we live together. I don't think anything that we do would be nearly as fun if I weren't with him."

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Rachael continued, "I love our dynamic, I think that we make each other better people. We bring out the better version of ourselves. I think we have a lot to teach each other."

Matt also agreed that he's been dating his best friend, which "makes everything that much better."

"You get to enjoy life with that person," the former The Bachelor star elaborated. "It's a great come true. We're always telling ourselves how blessed we are."

Matt and Rachael constantly post videos of each other on social media. They are either trying new restaurants or traveling to destinations such as Greece and Saint John.

After falling in love on The Bachelor, Matt and Rachael briefly split in February 2021 during Rachael's memorable racism controversy, which resulted in former The Bachelor host Chris Harrison and ABC agreeing to part ways.

But Rachael was extremely apologetic, and so she and Matt reconciled in April 2021.

Rachael told Us in June 2022 of taking her relationship with Matt to the next level, "The only timeline I give him is I was like, 'I gotta have kids before, you know, I can't have kids.' So keep that in mind."

Rachael said she and Matt weren't concerned with others' expectations for their relationship and future together.

"I feel like it's pretty crucial to just have fun with one another no matter where we're at or what we're doing," Rachael shared last year. "We got to make the most of everything."

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And Matt told the Los Angeles Times that same month, "We're one of the only couples from that franchise still going strong. The reason is we're going at things at our own pace. We're not playing games that a lot of people play just to stay in that circle."

Matt said on a May 2022 episode of Watch What Happens Live that he had a feeling Rachael was The One for him when they met on the very first night of filming The Bachelor in late 2020.

"When I met everybody that first night, [our] interaction was the most genuine," Matt said, according to People. "I was looking for that genuine connection and just realness and she exuded it. And there it is."

Matt also reportedly wrote in his book, First Impressions: Off Screen Conversations with a Bachelor on Race, Family, and Forgiveness, that he wanted to spend all of his time with Rachael while taping the show.

"In the beginning, she cut through the polished front I'd honed and into my nerdy side," Matt wrote of Rachael.

"We debated who was the bigger fan of How to Train Your Dragon and Marvel movies. I observed her empathy from afar, noticed how her kindness extended beyond our time alone and to everyone else she encountered."

Due to Rachael and Matt's tight bond, Rachael and Matt's best friend, The Bachelorette 15 alum Tyler Cameron, have confessed to having a love-hate relationship.

Tyler and Rachael explained the cause of their feud on Tyler's "Everybody But Me" radio show back in January.

RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELOR' FRANCHISE COUPLES NOW: WHO IS STILL TOGETHER?? (PHOTOS)

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About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski

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