Bachelor’s Matt James Spotted for 1st Time Following Rachael Kirkconnell Split

The Bachelor’s Matt James isn’t letting a fresh breakup stop him getting out and about.

James, 33, was spotted braving the chilly weather in New York City in photos taken on Tuesday, January 28.

The former reality star rugged up in a black hooded puffer jacket and gray gloves teamed with dark athletic pants and matching sneakers for the outing – the same day his ex Rachael Kirkconnell spilled the details of their split on the “Call Her Daddy” podcast.

James revealed he and Kirkconnell, 28, had called it quits via an Instagram post shared on January 16. (Kirkconnell and James met on The Bachelor season 25 in 2021 and ultimately chose to date each other outside of the show following a brief split.)

“Father God, give Rachael and I strength to mend our broken hearts,” James wrote alongside a photo from their time on The Bachelor. “Give us a peace [sic] about this decision to end our relationship that transcends worldly understanding. Shower our friends and family with kindness and love to comfort us. And remind us that our Joy comes from you, Lord 💔.”

During her appearance on “Call Her Daddy,” Kirkconnell shared further insight into what went wrong in their relationship with host Alex Cooper.

“He said that at the end of the day there were just qualities about me that he worries about having in a wife,” Kirkconnell shared. “At the end of the day, there are things that we aren’t compatible with and the whole accountability and saying sorry and all that was really the main thing.”

She continued: “It was just one of those things where he, I think, just had this realization that ‘I should want to propose to you by this time. Like, at this point in our relationship, I should be wanting those things and I should be ready for that. But I’m not still, I still don’t feel like we’re ready or I don’t feel like I’m ready. I don’t know if I ever see myself proposing to you. I can’t actually see myself married to you.’”

Kirkconnell also confessed on the podcast that James uploaded the Instagram post announcing the split just three hours after they had broken up. She discovered the news had been made public while getting ready to leave Tokyo after a trip to Japan.

“We’re literally getting ready to take off and my phone blows up,” she explained. “It’s one of my best friends and it says, ‘Rach,’ with a bunch of question marks, and as soon as I saw that, I’m like, ‘Oh my gosh, how does she know?’ and then she texts me again and said, ‘I saw Matt’s post. Is this real life?’ And that’s how I found out that he posted.”