The Bachelor star Matt James has confirmed he's pursuing a relationship with ex-girlfriend Rachael Kirkconnell again and says she is his focus right now.
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"I'm not pursuing any relationships right now outside of that. I said I was going to focus on my relationship with her and that means focusing on it."
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After Matt and Rachael were photographed spending time together in New York City and Los Angeles, a source told E! News, "They aren't back together, but definitely still have feelings."
The Season 25 The Bachelor star revealed on the After the Final Rose broadcast in March he had broken up with Rachael in mid-February after she apologized for her racially-ignorant and racially-insensitive behavior over the last several years.
Rachael, for instance, came under fire for posing in photos at an antebellum-themed "Old South" fraternity party at her Georgia college in 2018.
Matt said at the time he wanted to allow Rachael some space and time to educate herself on racism in America and "put in the work" to become a better person.
When asked whether he feels Rachael has done the work she promised, Matt reportedly replied, "That's something you could talk to her about."
"A lot of what I'm focused on right now is the work that I'm doing in the community," Matt explained, as well as training for a marathon.
Matt elaborated, "Just being at the center of meaningful conversations, that's what I'm looking to do. I really enjoyed the conversations I had over the past few months and I think it'd be a lot of fun to be a voice on important issues."
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"That's where I see my future and where I'm pursuing opportunities," he added.
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Matt apparently has no desire to return to reality television, at least not in the near future.
On Bachelor in Paradise's upcoming seventh season, Matt told People, "There's a negative chance I'll be on Paradise. There is a negative chance [my best friend Tyler Cameron is] on there as well. I think we're good on that."
Matt and Rachael's apparent reconciliation came about a week after Us Weekly reported the pair were "on non-speaking terms" due to The Bachelor star's alleged attempt to two-time Rachael.
"Matt felt horrible about what went down with him and Rachael recently and wanted to see her. He initiated the [Los Angeles] visit," a source recently shared with Us.
Although Rachael was initially skeptical of Matt's intentions after he was allegedly caught lying to both her and a woman named Grace from Florida, the source said, "They are having a good time right now and everything feels back to normal between them."
Reality Steve spoiler blogger Steve Carbone previously reported that Matt had allegedly FaceTimed with Rachael every day after their ATFR appearance and said he still loved her and wanted to get back together.
However, on April 4 -- just two days before Matt and Rachael's reunion in New York -- Matt allegedly reached out to Grace, a woman he had dated before and after Matt was named The Bachelor star last year, during a trip to Miami.
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A source told Us earlier this month that Rachael thought she and Matt were on the track to getting back together but once she found out about Grace, she felt "manipulated," "played" and "devastated" by her ex-boyfriend.
Carbone claimed Matt had lied to Grace about his romantic pursuit of Rachael and also lied to Rachael about his motive for seeing Grace again. (Matt allegedly said he needed one more person to fill out a table at a Miami nightclub, but Grace claimed Matt had offered to spend time with her alone that evening).
Grace said on Instagram Rachael was the real "victim" in the situation and deserves "someone better" than Matt.
"At a certain point when you start changing your character and lying and gaslighting and doing all of these things to protect your image and your fame, that's sort of when I have an issue," Grace told Carbone in an Instagram Live session.
"All power to you if you go on the show for fame, but in Matt's case, it got to a point where it was a little too much."
Rachael has insisted since The Bachelor finale aired that Matt is the love of her life, and she also defended him against bullying and harassment following the public announcement of their split.
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About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski
