Ben Higgins, Matt James, Rachael Kirkconnell Getty Images (3)
Ben Higgins is weighing in on Rachael Kirkconnell’s admission that she and ex Matt James were always filming content when they were eating together.
“Immediately, I said, ‘If you want a recipe for a relationship to at some point, have conflict, to feel out of touch, to have issues from a lack of communication, start filming those intimate moments — like a dinner together — every time,’” Higgins, 35, said on the Wednesday, January 29, episode of the “Almost Famous” podcast.
Higgins — who was reacting to Kirkconnell’s Tuesday, January 28, appearance on Alex Cooper’s “Call Her Daddy” podcast — pointed out that the former Bachelor contestant could have given an “over-dramatization” of the events. However, Higgins noted that even filming a majority of the meals could lead to uncomfortability during the meal.
“Ashley [Iaconetti], you’re really good at this now. This comes very natural to you, jumping on camera, talking on a camera, but there’s still a level of you turning it on when that phone starts recording, right?” Higgins said, to which Iaconnetti, 36, agreed. “You’re aware of it. You’re not, like, just relaxed. You’re working. That camera’s on at a dinner, it’s gonna start feeling like work.”
Even Bachelor Nation’s Ben Higgins and Ashley Iaconetti were caught off guard by Matt James and Rachael Kirkconnell’s breakup. “I do want to acknowledge that this is a very tough time for them, and also respect the fact that they broke up and that we’re not really owed too much information,” Higgins, 35, shared on […]
He continued, “It’s gonna start feeling like, ‘OK, can I have this bite of food? Is there going to be food on my face?’ Or, ‘Hey, can I ask Matt this question about where he’s at in our relationship and is he going to be upset with me because I’m gonna want to do it maybe during a dinner that he’s going to want to be filming, and so we’re gonna have to spend 30 minutes of this dinner actually having a conversation that matters and not just worrying about how the food looks or how it’s plated, or when the waiter’s coming up to drop the dishes.’”
Higgins cautioned listeners from following in the footsteps of Kirkconnell, 28, and James, 33, when it comes to using the phone at the dinner table.
Rachael Kirkconnell and Matt James Samir Hussein/Getty Images
“Don’t do this,” Higgins said. “Like we just talked about it last week, Ashley. One of the things for kids, when they grew up in a house, that means the most of them over time is when they sat down with their family for dinner. … So as a couple, do it. Invest into that time. I’m not saying you can’t ever film it or you can’t take pictures of it. That’s their job. But it felt like at some point, Rachael was wanting to say to Matt, ‘Hey, this is getting overwhelming for me.’”
Days after James revealed that he and Kirkconnell called it quits, she appeared on the “Call Her Daddy” podcast to share her side of the story. (James and Kirkconnell met during The Bachelor season 25 in 2021, and continued pursuing a relationship outside of the show.)
Less than two weeks after her split from Matt James rocked Bachelor Nation, Rachael Kirkconnell is ready to tell her side of the story, revealing that the breakup came “out of nowhere” during a fight. “It’s different every day. I’m doing OK,” Kirkconnell, 28, began to “Call Her Daddy” podcast host Alex Cooper on Tuesday, January […]
In the tell-all interview, Kirkconnell shared that the ultimate demise of their relationship began when the pair butted heads over where to go for dinner in Tokyo — and she briefly got emotional after feeling like she was “disappointing” him over her choice.
“He was like, ‘I’m just so confused, like, why you were so upset. Like, what was that?’ And I explained to him, like, ‘I felt like I’d let you down.’ Like, ‘I felt like that was disappointing. And I hate going to a place that isn’t somewhere that you could post about [on Instagram]. I feel like it’s a waste.’ And he just was trying to tell me like, ‘It’s not that serious. Like, it’s not that big of a deal.’ But then he was concerned about me getting so upset. He was like, ‘That was like, there was no reason for you to get upset like that.’ And he found it concerning that I got that emotional, I guess,” she recalled.
Kirkconnell continued, “He was trying to express to me, like, ‘If you get emotional about little things like this, what is going to happen in life when something really terrible happens? Like, how are you going to be able to react to things that are actually really scary or disappointing or sad?’ … I felt like I was being punished for crying.”
James broke up with Kirkconnell the following day, and shared the news with his Instagram followers hours later. Now, Kirkconnell shared that she’s moving forward — and doesn’t think the twosome will rekindle their romance.
“It’s different every day. I’m doing OK,” Kirkconnell said. “I would say some days are better than others — one day I’m feeling kind of empowered, like, ‘I’m excited to be on my own.’ And the next day I can barely get out of bed and I just miss him and I’m sad about everything.”