January 16, 2025 • 13 mins
The break-up heard round the world! Ben and Ashley react to the shocking split of Matt James and Rachel Kirkconnell after 4 years together. We tell you what we know, what will happen next, and what this means for Bachelor Nation.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is the Ben and Ashley I Almost Famous podcast
with iHeartRadio.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
It's a special headlines episode for the Almost Famous Podcast.
Today we are here to talk about something that's not
that fun to talk about, but it is a headline
and I'm sure viewers and listeners want to know what
we know about the Matt and Rachel situation. Now here
is what we know so far. We were kind of
(00:27):
brought onto this because of a post on Instagram that
Matt did announcing their breakup. This was a sweet post,
but it didn't go into any detail and it really
didn't hardly say they broke up, other than one line
where he said something about helping them get through this
time as they have separated. That's all we know. However,
(00:50):
through some investigation this morning from our team, we do
have some sources that are close to Matt and Rachel
that Ashley is going to speak about, and then we're
going to get into some speculation and also some recent
updates what we've been seeing from Matt and Rachel over
the last few weeks that led up to this moment.
Speaker 3 (01:06):
All right, so they have been posting NonStop on their
trip from London. Some people are saying that the trip
from London wrapped about a week ago, but they were
very happy seeming during this trip. He has been posting
pictures and videos of the trip. As of last yesterday evening,
(01:26):
it was like seventeen hours ago that he posted a
reel as of the time that I got on this computer.
If we want to go this dark deep Reddit. People
are saying on Reddit that Matt was leaving comments on
TikTok about Rings getting engaged, and some people were saying
(01:46):
that she was probably getting sick of him doing that
without actually proposing. Another rumor thought from Reddit is that
this is the type of sh and the trip to
Europe with no Ring during this season when everybody's getting
engaged was probably the final straw for her. Guaranteed she
(02:07):
was expecting some sort of proposal in London, and when
she didn't get it, she decided this was it all right?
Two valid thoughts. I think the things that they've been
posting seemingly are I want to say that it's mostly
been him posting this week of the two of them,
(02:28):
and it doesn't seem to be sponsored content because in
some relationships, especially in Bachelor Nation. I'm thinking about Chris
and Crystal, they had to do some sponsored posts before
announcing their breakup, because you know, you want to get
the money for what you've done and being together. We
get it, But this is sue. This is just really
(02:50):
out of the blue for us. Because one of the
last headlines that we read about them was that he
was planning a proposal. It seemed like it was just
around the bend. They have together for four years. That
is a long time to date without a proposal. Before
we move on, let me read the caption. This was
posted at six am Eastern time. People are like, maybe
(03:13):
Matt was on a run and he decided to post
it then, because people were speculating about how weird it
was that it was early, so early. Here's the caption. Father, God,
give Rachel and I strength to mend our broken hearts.
Give us a piece about this decision to end our
relationship that transcends worldly understanding. Shower our friends and family
(03:36):
with kindness and love to comfort us and remind us
that joy comes from you, Lord, heartbroken emoji. Now. My
initial thought was, oh, man, I want this to be
some prank on us, because I was reading so many
(03:57):
comments under the headline you saw.
Speaker 2 (03:59):
That this morning in a text, It's like, what kind
of prank is a no, exactly, Like that would make
me more mad than than breaking up.
Speaker 3 (04:10):
A prank to the public, I believe, But there was
a lot of this. There's a lot of chatter. It
was like every fourth comment was saying, could this be
a prank on us? But as much as I would
love to believe that, because I really really was rooting
for them, they got they went through so much together,
(04:31):
I can't imagine that he would use a prayer as
a prank. Like, he's not going to do a fake prayer, right,
no way. He started his season with the prayer with
the girls.
Speaker 2 (04:44):
I respect a man of faith. I think this caption
is saying enough for us to know it's over now.
The speculation from Reddit, I don't think is completely unfair.
So I do want to ign knowledge that this was
a very tough time for them, and also respect the
fact that they broke up and that we don't really
(05:05):
we're not really owed too much information. Yeah, However, some
weird things that stood out to me Ashley that I
think are standing out to most people. They have done
a tremendous job at separating themselves from the show completely.
I mean they right away were you know, Matt especially
was like, I'm done, I'm moved on. This thing is
(05:26):
what it was. We mes together and the show is
going to have no association with my life. And that
is a okay, that is a very fine strategy. However,
the breakup post is a picture of them at the
Bachelor mansion, which is odd to me.
Speaker 3 (05:45):
Yes, it's also the moment that they met. They're holding hands.
Maybe there's some symbolism to that.
Speaker 2 (05:52):
It just feels okay. I guess personally, it feels like
an interesting choice, I should say, for this picture to
announce a breakup when they have honestly done so much better.
Since then, they have been posting or he has been
posting on social media that seems like nothing is going on.
And then, as you mentioned from the sources that we
(06:13):
have that are very close to Matt and Rachel, when
they woke up this morning and saw this post, they
expected it to be a proposal post so.
Speaker 3 (06:21):
People can engagement announcement.
Speaker 2 (06:23):
Yeah, an engagement announcement. So people close to them had
no idea that things were happening. So with all that
being said, I, as Reddit does, I don't think they're
far off with there had to be some frustration with
the desire to get engagement and the jokes continuing about
the rings and a potential engagement and it never happening,
(06:45):
even with all these trips going on and all these
times together. I would imagine at some point that would
get frustrating, especially for the one that's like, are we
ever going to do this thing?
Speaker 1 (06:54):
Like?
Speaker 2 (06:55):
What am I doing? I'm getting older, We've dated for
a long time, are going to actually make this thing?
You know, the real deal? That would be my assumption,
my speculation, based on the clues that we have. I
have no context of that outside of the fact that
most people that knew them thought at some point here
soon they were going to get engaged.
Speaker 3 (07:17):
Ironically, that was also the reason that he left the
show not engaged, because he just wasn't ready, and so
he was like, let's date in real life. Well, they
have been dating in real life for four years now.
Speaker 2 (07:29):
I will say this, this might be advisor and be
listening if you've been dating somebody in your later twenties, thirties, forties, fifties, sixties, seventies, eighties,
as the Golden Show.
Speaker 3 (07:45):
Does, basically as you're saying, if you're not in high
school or college for.
Speaker 2 (07:49):
Four years, and the two of you are on a
different page when it comes to the future, it's probably
time to step away.
Speaker 4 (07:57):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (07:58):
Now, if you two are on the same page, you're
like not going to ever get engaged. We're not into
this marriage thing or you know, whatever that may be.
We're saving up money and we both know that the
timing will be once we get enough money together, all
that stuff. But if you're on different if you're on
different pages there after four years and this conversation has
not seemed to ever come together in a compromise or
(08:20):
into an excitement about what the future could hold, it's
probably time to move on.
Speaker 4 (08:25):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (08:35):
Any thoughts as to the fact that she hasn't posted
This is six hours now after he posted.
Speaker 2 (08:42):
From my experience, I would typically say the person most
hurt and most confused is the one that is hesitant
to share with the public. I mean, if you're confident
in this decision, you're sharing with the public. If you're
still in a place of mourning, healing, being a little angry,
(09:04):
you're not sharing this with the public because you probably
don't have nice Like you don't have this, it's probably
really hard for you to type out a caption that
says what you want to say and doesn't slam the person. Now, again,
this is speculation, that's my guess. If you're asking me why,
I think that's been my experience.
Speaker 3 (09:27):
Has that been your experience with Lauren?
Speaker 2 (09:30):
I can't remember. Actually, honestly that was.
Speaker 3 (09:32):
You were so tied to the show still at that point. Yeah,
I must have been. You must have had aid good point,
you had pr around you.
Speaker 2 (09:43):
Okay.
Speaker 3 (09:43):
I just also want to mention that this eighteen hours
ago real that they posted, or that he posted, She's
not a collaborator on it. It was everything we ordered
at at CRISP Pizza. So I'm wondering if it was
sort of a collaboration with the restaurant.
Speaker 2 (10:01):
For free pizza.
Speaker 3 (10:02):
Well, I mean that's I don't know. They are food
bloggers really, so I don't know if they have to
disclose whether it's an ad or not. I'm sure a
lot of these places are paying them to eat there. Yeah,
I think it'd be super duper weird of him just
to post a funsie reeal with her eighteen twelve hours before.
(10:23):
If you're going if you need to post this real,
so you needed to post this reel last night he
posts it, why would he decide I'm just going to
announce the breakup tomorrow, wait a week.
Speaker 2 (10:34):
It's very confusing, honestly. Also, I can't imagine a restaurant's
paying enough for you to say, hey, by the way,
we're going to hold this deal, like I'll just give
you the money back and pay for the pizza and
we're not going to post this because it feels inappropriate
at this time, like there's no way one restaurant is
paying enough to make it worth sharing, and then the
(10:55):
next day being like, oh, by the way, after that
piece of pizza, we broke up last night. But this
is not in live time supposedly, Well that's what it
feels like to the public, though.
Speaker 3 (11:06):
I know I know that the public is going to
assume that like, oh, you poosted a restaurant, this is
probably where you ate last night. No, but even if
it was a week ago, that where they ate did
they ate there a week ago? It's still like, holy crap, Yeah,
like that is a fast turnaround for the breakup. But also,
if you have to post for the restaurant and you're
broken up, at least hold off the breakup announcement for
(11:28):
a week.
Speaker 4 (11:29):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (11:30):
Uh, it's not a good look on the restaurant. Maybe
the pizza wasn't good.
Speaker 3 (11:33):
The pizza looks freaking incredible. I'm so I'm thinking about
what I'm going to eat after this podcast after looking
at their Instagram. And you know how you mentioned earlier
that they're so like not necessarily they're not necessarily tied
to the show so much anymore. My nanny walked in
today and she was like, did you hear about Matt
and Rachel. She goes, I never watched them on the show,
(11:54):
but like, I love their food blogging. That's what how
she knew them.
Speaker 2 (11:59):
Hmm, that's sweet. I'm it's stink. I mean, it's too
bad because they did have a long, a good thing
going and they had dated for a long time. They
obviously have a really rough start, not because of the
two of them, but just because of the timing and
what was going on the show. Obviously that was during
the time of Chris Harrison's departure from the show. You
(12:20):
kind I mean, I remember a conversation you and I
had on this podcast where we said, if you can
make it through these moments, it feels like you have
the strength to really do this thing long term. And
I never expected them to break up because four years in,
you're thinking they've both agreed that this is just a
path they're taking. Yeah, this was a shock this morning,
(12:42):
this morning to so many. Hey, that's all we have
for you. That's a special Headlines episode. We'll continue to
share any information we have as we go. Obviously, breakups
aren't the most fun thing to talk about, but they
are a big part of the headlines within Bachelor Nations.
So until next time, I've been Been, I've Been Ashley.
Speaker 4 (12:58):
See you.
Speaker 1 (13:00):
Follow the Ben and Ashley I Almost Famous podcasts on
iHeartRadio or subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts.
This is the Ben and Ashley I Almost Famous podcast
with iHeartRadio.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
It's a special headlines episode for the Almost Famous Podcast.
Today we are here to talk about something that's not
that fun to talk about, but it is a headline
and I'm sure viewers and listeners want to know what
we know about the Matt and Rachel situation. Now here
is what we know so far. We were kind of
(00:27):
brought onto this because of a post on Instagram that
Matt did announcing their breakup. This was a sweet post,
but it didn't go into any detail and it really
didn't hardly say they broke up, other than one line
where he said something about helping them get through this
time as they have separated. That's all we know. However,
(00:50):
through some investigation this morning from our team, we do
have some sources that are close to Matt and Rachel
that Ashley is going to speak about, and then we're
going to get into some speculation and also some recent
updates what we've been seeing from Matt and Rachel over
the last few weeks that led up to this moment.
Speaker 3 (01:06):
All right, so they have been posting NonStop on their
trip from London. Some people are saying that the trip
from London wrapped about a week ago, but they were
very happy seeming during this trip. He has been posting
pictures and videos of the trip. As of last yesterday evening,
(01:26):
it was like seventeen hours ago that he posted a
reel as of the time that I got on this computer.
If we want to go this dark deep Reddit. People
are saying on Reddit that Matt was leaving comments on
TikTok about Rings getting engaged, and some people were saying
(01:46):
that she was probably getting sick of him doing that
without actually proposing. Another rumor thought from Reddit is that
this is the type of sh and the trip to
Europe with no Ring during this season when everybody's getting
engaged was probably the final straw for her. Guaranteed she
(02:07):
was expecting some sort of proposal in London, and when
she didn't get it, she decided this was it all right?
Two valid thoughts. I think the things that they've been
posting seemingly are I want to say that it's mostly
been him posting this week of the two of them,
(02:28):
and it doesn't seem to be sponsored content because in
some relationships, especially in Bachelor Nation. I'm thinking about Chris
and Crystal, they had to do some sponsored posts before
announcing their breakup, because you know, you want to get
the money for what you've done and being together. We
get it, But this is sue. This is just really
(02:50):
out of the blue for us. Because one of the
last headlines that we read about them was that he
was planning a proposal. It seemed like it was just
around the bend. They have together for four years. That
is a long time to date without a proposal. Before
we move on, let me read the caption. This was
posted at six am Eastern time. People are like, maybe
(03:13):
Matt was on a run and he decided to post
it then, because people were speculating about how weird it
was that it was early, so early. Here's the caption. Father, God,
give Rachel and I strength to mend our broken hearts.
Give us a piece about this decision to end our
relationship that transcends worldly understanding. Shower our friends and family
(03:36):
with kindness and love to comfort us and remind us
that joy comes from you, Lord, heartbroken emoji. Now. My
initial thought was, oh, man, I want this to be
some prank on us, because I was reading so many
(03:57):
comments under the headline you saw.
Speaker 2 (03:59):
That this morning in a text, It's like, what kind
of prank is a no, exactly, Like that would make
me more mad than than breaking up.
Speaker 3 (04:10):
A prank to the public, I believe, But there was
a lot of this. There's a lot of chatter. It
was like every fourth comment was saying, could this be
a prank on us? But as much as I would
love to believe that, because I really really was rooting
for them, they got they went through so much together,
(04:31):
I can't imagine that he would use a prayer as
a prank. Like, he's not going to do a fake prayer, right,
no way. He started his season with the prayer with
the girls.
Speaker 2 (04:44):
I respect a man of faith. I think this caption
is saying enough for us to know it's over now.
The speculation from Reddit, I don't think is completely unfair.
So I do want to ign knowledge that this was
a very tough time for them, and also respect the
fact that they broke up and that we don't really
(05:05):
we're not really owed too much information. Yeah, However, some
weird things that stood out to me Ashley that I
think are standing out to most people. They have done
a tremendous job at separating themselves from the show completely.
I mean they right away were you know, Matt especially
was like, I'm done, I'm moved on. This thing is
(05:26):
what it was. We mes together and the show is
going to have no association with my life. And that
is a okay, that is a very fine strategy. However,
the breakup post is a picture of them at the
Bachelor mansion, which is odd to me.
Speaker 3 (05:45):
Yes, it's also the moment that they met. They're holding hands.
Maybe there's some symbolism to that.
Speaker 2 (05:52):
It just feels okay. I guess personally, it feels like
an interesting choice, I should say, for this picture to
announce a breakup when they have honestly done so much better.
Since then, they have been posting or he has been
posting on social media that seems like nothing is going on.
And then, as you mentioned from the sources that we
(06:13):
have that are very close to Matt and Rachel, when
they woke up this morning and saw this post, they
expected it to be a proposal post so.
Speaker 3 (06:21):
People can engagement announcement.
Speaker 2 (06:23):
Yeah, an engagement announcement. So people close to them had
no idea that things were happening. So with all that
being said, I, as Reddit does, I don't think they're
far off with there had to be some frustration with
the desire to get engagement and the jokes continuing about
the rings and a potential engagement and it never happening,
(06:45):
even with all these trips going on and all these
times together. I would imagine at some point that would
get frustrating, especially for the one that's like, are we
ever going to do this thing?
Speaker 1 (06:54):
Like?
Speaker 2 (06:55):
What am I doing? I'm getting older, We've dated for
a long time, are going to actually make this thing?
You know, the real deal? That would be my assumption,
my speculation, based on the clues that we have. I
have no context of that outside of the fact that
most people that knew them thought at some point here
soon they were going to get engaged.
Speaker 3 (07:17):
Ironically, that was also the reason that he left the
show not engaged, because he just wasn't ready, and so
he was like, let's date in real life. Well, they
have been dating in real life for four years now.
Speaker 2 (07:29):
I will say this, this might be advisor and be
listening if you've been dating somebody in your later twenties, thirties, forties, fifties, sixties, seventies, eighties,
as the Golden Show.
Speaker 3 (07:45):
Does, basically as you're saying, if you're not in high
school or college for.
Speaker 2 (07:49):
Four years, and the two of you are on a
different page when it comes to the future, it's probably
time to step away.
Speaker 4 (07:57):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (07:58):
Now, if you two are on the same page, you're
like not going to ever get engaged. We're not into
this marriage thing or you know, whatever that may be.
We're saving up money and we both know that the
timing will be once we get enough money together, all
that stuff. But if you're on different if you're on
different pages there after four years and this conversation has
not seemed to ever come together in a compromise or
(08:20):
into an excitement about what the future could hold, it's
probably time to move on.
Speaker 4 (08:25):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (08:35):
Any thoughts as to the fact that she hasn't posted
This is six hours now after he posted.
Speaker 2 (08:42):
From my experience, I would typically say the person most
hurt and most confused is the one that is hesitant
to share with the public. I mean, if you're confident
in this decision, you're sharing with the public. If you're
still in a place of mourning, healing, being a little angry,
(09:04):
you're not sharing this with the public because you probably
don't have nice Like you don't have this, it's probably
really hard for you to type out a caption that
says what you want to say and doesn't slam the person. Now, again,
this is speculation, that's my guess. If you're asking me why,
I think that's been my experience.
Speaker 3 (09:27):
Has that been your experience with Lauren?
Speaker 2 (09:30):
I can't remember. Actually, honestly that was.
Speaker 3 (09:32):
You were so tied to the show still at that point. Yeah,
I must have been. You must have had aid good point,
you had pr around you.
Speaker 2 (09:43):
Okay.
Speaker 3 (09:43):
I just also want to mention that this eighteen hours
ago real that they posted, or that he posted, She's
not a collaborator on it. It was everything we ordered
at at CRISP Pizza. So I'm wondering if it was
sort of a collaboration with the restaurant.
Speaker 2 (10:01):
For free pizza.
Speaker 3 (10:02):
Well, I mean that's I don't know. They are food
bloggers really, so I don't know if they have to
disclose whether it's an ad or not. I'm sure a
lot of these places are paying them to eat there. Yeah,
I think it'd be super duper weird of him just
to post a funsie reeal with her eighteen twelve hours before.
(10:23):
If you're going if you need to post this real,
so you needed to post this reel last night he
posts it, why would he decide I'm just going to
announce the breakup tomorrow, wait a week.
Speaker 2 (10:34):
It's very confusing, honestly. Also, I can't imagine a restaurant's
paying enough for you to say, hey, by the way,
we're going to hold this deal, like I'll just give
you the money back and pay for the pizza and
we're not going to post this because it feels inappropriate
at this time, like there's no way one restaurant is
paying enough to make it worth sharing, and then the
(10:55):
next day being like, oh, by the way, after that
piece of pizza, we broke up last night. But this
is not in live time supposedly, Well that's what it
feels like to the public, though.
Speaker 3 (11:06):
I know I know that the public is going to
assume that like, oh, you poosted a restaurant, this is
probably where you ate last night. No, but even if
it was a week ago, that where they ate did
they ate there a week ago? It's still like, holy crap, Yeah,
like that is a fast turnaround for the breakup. But also,
if you have to post for the restaurant and you're
broken up, at least hold off the breakup announcement for
(11:28):
a week.
Speaker 4 (11:29):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (11:30):
Uh, it's not a good look on the restaurant. Maybe
the pizza wasn't good.
Speaker 3 (11:33):
The pizza looks freaking incredible. I'm so I'm thinking about
what I'm going to eat after this podcast after looking
at their Instagram. And you know how you mentioned earlier
that they're so like not necessarily they're not necessarily tied
to the show so much anymore. My nanny walked in
today and she was like, did you hear about Matt
and Rachel. She goes, I never watched them on the show,
(11:54):
but like, I love their food blogging. That's what how
she knew them.
Speaker 2 (11:59):
Hmm, that's sweet. I'm it's stink. I mean, it's too
bad because they did have a long, a good thing
going and they had dated for a long time. They
obviously have a really rough start, not because of the
two of them, but just because of the timing and
what was going on the show. Obviously that was during
the time of Chris Harrison's departure from the show. You
(12:20):
kind I mean, I remember a conversation you and I
had on this podcast where we said, if you can
make it through these moments, it feels like you have
the strength to really do this thing long term. And
I never expected them to break up because four years in,
you're thinking they've both agreed that this is just a
path they're taking. Yeah, this was a shock this morning,
(12:42):
this morning to so many. Hey, that's all we have
for you. That's a special Headlines episode. We'll continue to
share any information we have as we go. Obviously, breakups
aren't the most fun thing to talk about, but they
are a big part of the headlines within Bachelor Nations.
So until next time, I've been Been, I've Been Ashley.
Speaker 4 (12:58):
See you.
Speaker 1 (13:00):
Follow the Ben and Ashley I Almost Famous podcasts on
iHeartRadio or subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts.
Hosts And Creators
Ben Higgins
Ashley Iaconetti
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