Rachael Kirkconnell Opens Up About Staying Close to Matt James — “We’re Still Best Friends”

Moving forward. 

Bachelor Nation got to know Rachael Kirkconnell on Season 25 of “The Bachelor,” where she found love with Matt James. 

Earlier this year, Matt revealed that the two had unfortunately broken up, and Rachael shared it was due to each of them deciding they wanted different things.

Rachael has since been very open about her life after the split, and just revealed that she really wants to remain friends with Matt. 

In a recent interview on “The Squeeze Podcast,” Rachael said, “People are gonna kill me for this, but I still do wish on some level we could be friends. Because he was my best friend.” 

Rachael then got emotional as she reflected back on their relationship together.

“Trying not to cry,” she said, “Of course, he was my best friend for years and we were friends before boyfriend and girlfriend in our relationship, like not every relationship is like that… For me, at times, I was like, it really does just seem like we’re best friends. And again, so many relationships are different. I love that, like I want all my relationships to feel like the man that I’m dating is my best friend. So, I loved that for the most part.”

The Bachelor Nation star went on, revealing that she would love to reconnect with Matt again sometime in the future. 

She expressed, “There is a part of me that will always be rooting for him and hope that he’s doing okay. And I would love to maybe someday, not any time soon, don’t worry guys. But I don’t know, a couple years from now or something, if we were to run into each other at an event or something, I would love to be able to sit and have a conversation. Have a laugh and catch up. I don’t think either of us have any bad blood or ill will towards each other, so maybe when we’re moved on.”

Rachael then shared where she currently stands with Matt and her hope for both of them. 

“Like we don’t have to be friends, but friendly would be nice,” she admitted, “I do want him to be happy, doesn’t have to be with me. I said that from the beginning of our relationship, I said that to him on the show. I was like, ‘At the end of the day, I just want you to be happy even if it’s not with me.’ And I still feel like that to this day. I want both of us to be happy, even if it’s not with each other. So, I don’t know, we’ll see…And we are not in contact. I have not been texting him, I have not been calling him, don’t worry. But I would love if we could be friendly at some point.”