T.J. Holmes Drops Bombshell Details From Insider Talks With Matt James

T.J. Holmes’ insight adds a new layer to the shocking split, which James announced earlier this month via Instagram.

During the January 29 episode of their “Amy and T.J.” podcast, addressed the criticism surrounding James’ recent split, admitting that while he sympathizes with him, he also recognizes that things could have been handled differently.

“I will defend Matt, but I can defend Matt without sh-tting on Rachael,” Holmes said. “I can defend him and have my heart go out to him without taking anything away from her experience.”

While Holmes understands that relationships are complicated, he didn’t hold back when discussing James’ abrupt Instagram breakup post, which caught Kirkconnell off guard. “If Matt was in front of me right now, I would say, ‘Damn, bro, what were you thinking with that [breakup announcement] post? Why did you not give it a beat?’” Holmes said, adding that James might have a reason for his actions.

Holmes’ co-host Robach speculated that James may have had a sudden realization that pushed him to end things.

“Maybe he had an aha moment. Maybe there was just clarity where he thought, ‘You know what? I don’t want more nights like that. I don’t want days like that. I don’t want that,’” Robach theorized. “Something had to have changed. Something had to have clicked.”

She suggested that James’ spending three weeks straight with Kirkconnell may have contributed to his change of heart.

“Maybe everyone should do that .. spend three weeks with someone 24 hours a day. And you might have clarity that you didn’t have before,” she added.

Holmes jokingly responded to Robach’s comments by calling them “the best couple ever” since they spend so much time together. Robach took it a step further, suggesting they should “go to the courthouse” and make things official.

“We have withstood that test, but it’s a test a lot of people don’t go through,” she concluded. “I think at the end of the day, a year from now or six months from now or five years from now, there will be clarity.”

Holmes shared that James had openly discussed proposing to Kirkconnell and even envisioned their future together. “Matt obviously wasn’t fooling her or trying to trick her,” Holmes said, before adding, “I had plenty of conversations with this dude.”

Holmes explained that now that Kirkconnell has publicly spoken out about the breakup, he feels more comfortable sharing what he knows.

“Now that she said it, I feel more comfortable saying it. He’s talked about marrying this woman. He’s talked about them having kids,” Holmes revealed. “He talked about it plenty privately. [I] had this conversation tons of times with this dude.”

These revelations make James’ abrupt split from Kirkconnell even more puzzling to Bachelor Nation, as just weeks before the breakup, he reportedly encouraged her to start looking at engagement rings.

Kirkconnell addressed the split on January 28 during an emotional episode of the “Call Her Daddy” podcast. She revealed that James ultimately expressed doubts about their long-term compatibility, leading to their breakup.

“He said that at the end of the day, there were just qualities about me that he worries about having in a wife,” she shared. “There are things that we aren’t compatible with, and the whole accountability and saying sorry and all that was really the main thing.”

According to Kirkconnell, James realized he wasn’t ready for marriage, despite their nearly four-year relationship. “I should want to propose to you by this time,” she recalled him saying. “At this point in our relationship, I should be wanting those things and I should be ready for that. But I’m not. I don’t know if I ever see myself proposing to you. I can’t actually see myself married to you.”

Holmes, however, presumed that James and Kirkconnell were aware of the challenges in their relationship.

“Certainly, some of these things have been on his mind and talked about [between them]. You’re always looking at the person you’ve been in with for a relationship,” Holmes continued before shifting the focus to his own relationship with Robach. “We’ve been together coming up on three years now. I assure you, I’ve had plenty of thoughts about you being my wife.”

With Holmes now confirming that James had been thinking about marriage and kids, fans are left wondering what really caused his change of heart.

While neither James nor Kirkconnell has publicly responded to Holmes’ comments, it’s clear that there’s more to this breakup than meets the eye, and Bachelor Nation is here for the drama.