‘The Bachelor’s Rachael Kirkconnell Reveals Matt James ‘Finally’ Apologized After Breakup

Matt James and Rachel Kirkconnell have been in touch since their unexpected split. The Bachelor star made the revelation during a recent episode of The Squeeze podcast.

Kirkconnell says she was blindsided by their split a few months back. As for why they split, she says James told her he no longer saw a future with her.

“We did have a conversation after the podcast and, again, I think if he ever wants to share his side of it and his story then he’s more than able to, of course,” Kirkconnell, 28, said. “I think that hearing certain things come from him helped me a lot. I think that, you know, not only did he apologize for things, but he took a lot of things back.”

She continued, “Of course, that was really hard to hear and it was really sad and it hurts — I don’t know. Sometimes I tell myself it was so nice to hear the things I had been wanting to hear for weeks and I finally got that apology and that closure and that honesty that I needed from him. But it still didn’t change anything for me. It still happened. He still did what he did and we still had to navigate everything after that.”

She says she forgives her ex, but ultimately, things between them remain at a standstill. She said, “I think you can forgive someone without, you know, taking them back or wanting to work through things or whatever it may be. I think you can forgive someone and accept their apology but then keep moving on.”

“It doesn’t have to be just relationships, this can go as friendships, family, anything,” the reality star continued. “You can accept their apology and you can believe that they are being sincere but it doesn’t mean you have to have them back in your life. It doesn’t mean, ‘Oh, I forgive you, let’s try this again.’ Or, ‘Oh, I forgive you, let’s be friends again.’ Because at the end of the day, if you know it’s still not right, and what they did is still not OK, you don’t have to take them back into your life, if that makes sense.”