Why T.J. Holmes, Rachael Kirkconnell Had a ‘Laugh’ About Her Scandal

While discussing her split from Matt James, T.J. Holmes revealed that he spoke with Rachael Kirkconnell about the controversy surrounding the former couple’s season of The Bachelor.

“Our hearts go out to these two,” Holmes said on the Wednesday, January 29, episode of his “Amy and T.J.” podcast. “Most of the times when I was with Matt, Rachael wasn’t around but I have gotten to spend some good time with her.”

Holmes continued, “We had a good old laugh, because I had to cover her story every day on Good Morning America [about] what was happening in the controversy with Bachelor.”

During season 25 of The Bachelor, which aired in 2021, Kirkconnell made headlines for college photos at an “Old South”-themed frat party.

“While there have been rumors circulating, there have also been truths that have come to light that I need to address. I hear you, and I’m here to say I was wrong,” she wrote via Instagram in February 2021. “At one point, I didn’t recognize how offensive and racist my actions were, but that doesn’t excuse them. My age or when it happened does not excuse anything. They are not acceptable or OK in any sense. I was ignorant, but my ignorance was racist.”

Then-host Chris Harrison faced backlash when he asked fans to have “grace” for Kirkconnell amid the scandal. Harrison eventually announced his exit from The Bachelor franchise. Kirkconnell, meanwhile, said she was putting in the work and stood by her apology.

“My statement and apology is for the people of color that I have offended, if you do not identify as BIPOC then it is not your apology to accept or not. please be respectful to those who have been affected,” she added at the time.

James initially decided to break up with Kirkconnell in order for her to do the work when it came to educating herself.

“As someone who grew up in the South, it takes me to a place that I don’t often like to think about. I wasn’t OK. It was in that moment and the conversation that I had, that Rachael might not understand what it means to be Black in America,” he said in March 2021 during the After the Final Rose special. “It’s heartbreaking. If you don’t understand that something like that is problematic in 2018, there’s a lot of me that you won’t understand. It’s as simple as that. … You know what was a long time ago? Plantations.”

The pair reconciled two months later and dated for years before their shocking split.

“Father God, give Rachael and I strength to mend our broken hearts,” he wrote via Instagram earlier this month. “Give us a peace about this decision to end our relationship that transcends worldly understanding. Shower our friends and family with kindness and love to comfort us. And remind us that our Joy comes from you, Lord 💔.”

Kirkconnell has since offered her side of the story during the Tuesday, January 28, episode of the “Call Her Daddy” podcast.

“He said that at the end of the day there were just qualities about me that he worries about having in a wife. At the end of the day, there are things that we aren’t compatible with and the whole accountability and saying sorry and all that was really the main thing,” she recalled about what led to the split. “It was just one of those things where he, I think, just had this realization that ‘I should want to propose to you by this time. Like, at this point in our relationship, I should be wanting those things and I should be ready for that. But I’m not still, I still don’t feel like we’re ready or I don’t feel like I’m ready. I don’t know if I ever see myself proposing to you. I can’t actually see myself married to you.’”