The Bachelor couple Matt James and Rachael Kirkconnell have revealed what they really thought of each other when they first met on the show's 25th season.

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Matt and Rachael took to Matt's YouTube page to answer questions fans have been asking them about their relationship and journey on The Bachelor, which aired in early 2021.

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When asked to share their first impression of one another, Rachael shared, "Coming out of the limo -- which is so weird to think about, the first time meeting you -- off the bat, [I thought] you were the most handsome man ever."

Rachael said of Matt on-camera, "[You're] tall, dark, and handsome in a suit. I couldn't believe that I didn't throw up on him."

Rachael also recalled that her first conversation with Matt "surprisingly went well," adding, "When I get so nervous, my mind just goes blank. That couldn't have been a worse first scenario [for me] because... there were 50 people around the set... and cameras and lights everywhere."

Rachael admitted that, to this day, she doesn't know how she got through that first night of filming in late 2020.

"But I still say, when I grabbed your hands, you were kind of shaky too and, in a way, that was sweet," Rachael continued, addressing Matt directly.

"I was like, 'Aww, he's nervous too.' At the end of the day, you were just a normal guy too."

Matt blurted out, "Pretty girls make me nervous," and Rachael quipped, "Oh stop!"

Rachael went on to share, "When you think about the lead, you think it's this perfect person who has it all together, but when I felt your hands shaking, I was like, 'He's just a normal guy."

Rachael therefore concluded that her first impression of Matt was that he was "the most handsome man in the world" and that she liked his laugh.

Matt followed up Rachael's story by sharing, "My first impression was relief. I was so skeptical about... going on a reality TV show. I was like, 'What if I'm not attracted to anybody? What if nobody is normal?'"

"But then after meeting you and having that conversation, I was just, like, relieved," he noted. "Since I never thought I'd do something like that, I imagined that the people going on that show were weird."

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Rachael asked Matt if he really thought he was going to meet his person on The Bachelor, and Matt admitted he was "hopeful" because his best friend, Tyler Cameron, had fallen in love with Hannah Brown on The Bachelorette's fifteenth season. (Tyler, however, finished as Hannah's runner-up).

"I was hopeful solely because of how Tyler changed after his experience on the show," Matt explained.

"He ended up taking second place... but he changed as a person when he came back, and that gave me confidence going into it, that this experience might change me and I could find someone like he did."

Although Matt and Rachael aren't engaged yet, they said they envision themselves having children soon. In fact, Rachael told her boyfriend that she'd like to be pregnant within five years, and Matt said he was definitely up for that.

"I want to have kids! I want to have multiple kids. So hopefully in five years, we have [a baby] and another one on the way," Matt revealed.

The most challenging part of their relationship, however, is having eyes on them at all times and receiving unsolicited opinions from fans. Rachael admitted she doesn't like it when random people try to tell her what to do when it comes to her relationship with Matt.

"[We're] trying to protect the relationship and keep the peace just within one another and not let that outside noise [break us]," Rachael said.

"That's easier now than ever, but that was a big challenge at the beginning. I would let the outside noise really get to me, but now, I don't think it really bothers me at all."

Matt agreed with Rachael and said they're never going to make decisions just to appease other people, such as getting engaged when they're not ready.

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

Matt teased in February that he and Rachael are happy doing things at their own pace. He explained at the time, "If you do things that other people want you to do and you don't consider y'all's feelings, then I think that is a recipe for disaster."

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But Matt said his marriage proposal to Rachael will be "special" -- not on the couch at home -- when that time comes and he's "definitely excited" about the idea of taking their relationship to the next level.

In Summer 2023, 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.

"It's not that weird [to not be engaged]. I feel like that's pretty normal," Rachael explained. "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 last year.

"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."

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."

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've got to have kids before, you know, I can't have kids.' So keep that in mind."

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.

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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