The Bachelor alum Matt James has revealed that his girlfriend Rachael Kirkconnell played a big role in how he portrayed their love story in his new book.
|
ADVERTISEMENT
|
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELOR' FRANCHISE COUPLES NOW: WHO IS STILL TOGETHER?? (PHOTOS)
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.
Matt revealed that his new book First Impressions -- which is currently available for pre-order and hits shelves on May 3 -- will provide The Bachelor fans with "more context" behind his falling out with Rachael and how they got back together, according to Us Weekly.
"A lot of people going into the [After the Final Rose] didn't realize that we had broken up because they're not on Instagram, Twitter, whatever. So just providing context was the means of talking about our relationship [in the book]," Matt said during an upcoming episode of the magazine's "Here for the Right Reasons" podcast.
Matt said he and Rachael were "collaborative" when determining how the former The Bachelor star would describe and detail the personal story of their romance.
"[I had] conversations with Rachael about how I was gonna put our story together," Matt confirmed.
Matt suggested The Bachelor producers played no role in his reunion with Rachael or the rebuilding of their relationship amid the racism scandal.
In fact, he slammed the show for treating them poorly and seemingly not caring about their mental health.
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELORETTE' COUPLES NOW: WHOM DID 'THE BACHELORETTE' STARS AND THEIR BACHELOR PICKS ULTIMATELY END UP WITH?! (PHOTOS)
"It's a one-sided relationship, you know what I mean?" Matt explained on the podcast in part.
FOLLOW REALITY TV WORLD ON THE ALL-NEW GOOGLE NEWS!
Reality TV World is now available on the all-new Google News app and website. Click here to visit our Google News page, and then click FOLLOW to add us as a news source!
"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 insisted he doesn't want to be "petty" or start drama, but he also apparently didn't want to give the show any credit for his current happy relationship with Rachael.
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."
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.
ADVERTISEMENT
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELOR' COUPLES NOW: WHO DID 'THE BACHELOR' STARS AND THEIR BACHELORETTE PICKS ACTUALLY END UP MARRYING? (PHOTOS)
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 on a deep level, 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)
Interested in more The Bachelor news? Join our The Bachelor Facebook Group.
About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski
