‘The Bachelor’ couple Matt James and Rachael Kirkconnell return to where they fell in love

Reality

The Bachelor couple Matt James and Rachael Kirkconnell have revisited the place where they fell in love on the show’s 25th season.

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Matt and Rachael have taken a trip down memory lane by spending some time together at the Nemacolin, the luxury resort in Pennsylvania where Matt’s The Bachelor season was filmed.

RELATED LINK: ‘THE BACHELOR’ FRANCHISE COUPLES NOW: WHO IS STILL TOGETHER?? (PHOTOS)

While Matt and Rachael fell in love at Nemacolin in late 2020, their The Bachelor season didn’t air on ABC until early 2021.

“Back at it and going somewhere super special this week,” Rachael, 25, initially teased in a Wednesday post on her Instagram Story, along with a photo with Matt, according to Us Weekly.

Later that day, Matt, 30, confirmed he and his girlfriend had arrived at Nemacolin, and the pair was joined by Matt’s mother.

Ever since then, Rachael and Matt have been documenting their time together at the hotel — including playing golf and dining at different restaurants — and reminiscing about the sweet The Bachelor moments they had shared at this resort.

In her Instagram Story, Rachael reportedly pointed out areas of significance to her relationship while strolling through the hotel grounds, and she apparently got choked up now and again.

“That was where our one-on-one [date] started. Do you remember?” Rachael asked Matt, who replied, “Of course. I will never forget.”

“I’m sooooo emotional,” Rachael added. “This is where Rose Ceremonies (and more)  were. All the gals sit back here together before the night would start.”

Rachael even recalled the first moment she had seen Matt in person.

RELATED LINK: ‘THE BACHELORETTE’ COUPLES NOW: WHOM DID ‘THE BACHELORETTE’ STARS AND THEIR BACHELOR PICKS ULTIMATELY END UP WITH?! (PHOTOS)  

“I saw Matt from the peephole of my room on the very first night while you were leaving [stylist Cary Fetman]’s. My room was right next to Cary’s and I heard him laugh outside the room as I [was] getting ready in my dress,” Rachael shared on Thursday.

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“That’s the first time I ever saw you. I almost threw up.”

And Matt explained how he ordered food from Rockwell’s restaurant constantly.

“After a couple days, I would just walk downstairs in my slippers and blanket, and everything would be ready before I got here. I’d eat family style with staff and the chefs,” Matt boasted.

Rachael also showed a glimpse of Falling Rock, the building where all of The Bachelor bachelorettes stayed during filming.

“Aka our ‘Bachelor mansion,'” Rachael wrote Friday on Instagram Stories. “So many laughs and fun memories shared here. Felt overwhelmed when I first walked in.”

Matt’s The Bachelor season wrapped in March 2021 with Matt offering Rachael his final rose. The pair didn’t get engaged, but they expressed their love to each other during the finale of Season 25.

After a short breakup in February over Rachael’s racism controversy, she and Matt got back together in early April 2021 and have seemingly been inseparable ever since.

“We’re doing very well,” Matt recently told Fox News.

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“It’s been a lot of fun to enjoy life with her out of the spotlight this past year and this year.”

RELATED LINK: ‘THE BACHELOR’ COUPLES NOW: WHO DID ‘THE BACHELOR’ STARS AND THEIR BACHELORETTE PICKS ACTUALLY END UP MARRYING? (PHOTOS)

Matt said he and Rachael’s relationship is thriving due to communication, spending a lot of time with each other, getting to know each other, and building trust.

“When you do that and you have those elements in a relationship, I feel like it’s pretty standard that things start to fall into place,” shared Matt, who is releasing a book entitled “First Impressions” in May.

Matt and Rachael briefly split in February of last year when racially-ignorant and racially-insensitive photos from Rachael’s past resurfaced online, including a 2018 image of Rachael attending an antebellum-themed “Old South” party at her Georgia college with sorority sisters.

Rachael issued multiple apologies on social media at the time, but Matt explained on The Bachelor: After the Final Rose in March 2021 that he wanted to give Rachael some time to educate herself on racism in society and gain awareness.

Matt apparently needed to know that Rachael could support him and truly understand his perspective as a Black man in America.

But according to Reality Steve spoiler blogger Steve Carbone, Matt could only stand his breakup from Rachael for about a month because he allegedly began texting and FaceTiming her every day following their ATFR appearance, saying he still loved her and wanted her back.

Matt and Rachael apparently reunited on April 4, 2021 in New York City to give their relationship another shot, and they proceeded to hang out in Los Angeles and Miami before becoming an official couple again.

“There were rough patches in our relationship,” Matt acknowledged during a late May episode of “The Pomp Podcast,” likely alluding to the fact he had been accused of trying to hook up with an old Miami-based flame named Grace shortly before flying Rachael to New York to see him in early April.

RELATED LINK: CLAYTON ECHARD’S ‘THE BACHELOR’ SEASON 26 BACHELORETTES — MEET THE WOMEN! (PHOTOS)

Matt explained there was a point in time when he “wasn’t really honoring” the commitment he had made to Rachael to work on their relationship” but a “come-to-Jesus meeting” with the brunette beauty got the couple’s romance back on the right track.

“We are back together now,” Matt confirmed at the time.

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“[Rachael] was like, ‘If you’re going to make this work, then let’s do it. But, if you’re not going to make it work, then I’m going to let you do your own thing.’ That’s really all I needed,” Matt recalled.

“It was an ultimatum that I needed… and it’s been great.”

Matt added, “The best thing about Rachael is her heart. She’s the most kind, caring, and understanding person I’ve ever met… Everything we’ve been through, everything she’s been through, she’s stuck right by my side. She’s continued to have a positive attitude.”

E! News reported in June 2021 that Matt and Rachael had begun discussing the possibility of Rachael relocating from Georgia to New York City, where Matt currently resides, and moving in together.

A source told E! News at the time Matt “is truly in love” with Rachael and they developed “a special bond” and “really turned a leaf in their relationship.”

Rachael has also been afforded the chance to get to know Matt’s best friend, The Bachelorette alum Tyler Cameron, who definitely approves of the relationship.

“Rachael is awesome. She’s a beam of light,” Tyler gushed of Rachael last year. “I really enjoyed hanging out with her, spending time with her. We had a good time.”

RELATED LINK: ‘THE BACHELOR’ FRANCHISE COUPLES NOW: WHO IS STILL TOGETHER?? (PHOTOS)

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About The Author:
Elizabeth Kwiatkowski

Elizabeth Kwiatkowski is Associate Editor of Reality TV World and has been covering the reality TV genre for more than a decade.

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