ABC/Maarten de Boer
Matt James Shares ‘The Bachelor’ Stories in ‘First Impressions’ Memoir: The ‘Real S–t That Happened’
Mentioning it all! Matt James is not holding back about his experience on The Bachelor in first-ever memoir First Impressions: Off Screen Conversations with a Bachelor on Race, Family, and Forgiveness, which is set to be released on Tuesday, May 3.
During an interview with Us Weekly ahead of the book’s release, Matt, 30, revealed that fans can expect to read about the “real s–t that happened in my life” while he was on the ABC reality show.
“That’s the crazy part. I shared [this] stuff during the show, but it just never made it on air,” he explained of the anecdotes written in First Impressions. “I shared all those things so that the women who were pursuing me — as well as the viewers — to have context to why I was the way I was. And when they didn’t have that context, there are just a lot of things didn’t add up.”
Matt went on to explain that he’s “not nervous” of sharing the book with fans.
“I’m hoping that as [readers] see how open and honest I am with my life, you know, it allows them to resonate and feel what I’ve been through and give them some hope in what they’re going through,” he added.
One thing the author hopes that the book will offer “more context” to is his relationship with Rachael Kirkconnell. The former Bachelor has been with Rachael, 25, since after their bombshell After the Final Rose special aired in March 2021. Following the Georgia native’s past racist social media controversy — for which she’s since apologized — amid their season of the Bachelor, Matt and Rachael split. They’ve since reconciled their romance and are still going strong.
A source told Life & Style exclusively in June 2021 that the pair were “in love again” following their breakup earlier that same year. “They decided to give their relationship another shot, and it seems to have worked,” the insider added. “They’re in a really good place right now. I wouldn’t rule that proposal out just yet.”
Matt told Us Weekly that he felt it was important in First Impressions to provide context by “talking about our relationship [in the book].” The ABC Food Tours cofounder noted that he had “conversations with Rachael about how I was gonna put our story together.”
He went on to admit that while he doesn’t want to “call out” the Bachelor franchise or their fandom, it was important to reflect on the After the Final Rose special. Matt told Us Weekly that when it came time for their live sit-down there was “nothing else” he had left to give.
“That’s kind of how we’ve gone about our relationship. We’re not, you know, hosting group dates. We’re not pulling up to these different events because it’s a one-sided relationship, you know what I mean?” Matt explained, in part, adding that he’s “so thankful” for the opportunity to have been the Bachelor. However, “When Rachael needed them the most, they were nowhere to be found. When I needed them and whatever, it was the cold shoulder. So, we’re good on our own.”
