Matt James didn’t have an easy time as the lead of The Bachelor, and he recently clapped back at a snide comment from franchise creator Mike Fleiss. It’s no secret that Matt had a traumatic season of The Bachelor. Even though he seems to now be in a good place with girlfriend Rachael Kirkconnell, that doesn’t diminish what he went through as the franchise’s first Black lead. Fleiss recently tweeted about the couple, and Matt and Rachael fired right back.
At the end of Matt’s season, he and Rachael both walked away single, as he initially couldn’t forgive her for the racially insensitive behavior in her past. But over time the two of them began to talk and meet up, and it wasn’t too long before Matt confirmed he and Rachael are dating. Since then, the couple has been going strong. Matt and Rachael have discussed taking their relationship to the next level and possibly moving in together. Recently, the couple attended the ESPY awards together.
Mike Fleiss tweeted about Matt and Rachael after the awards, commenting “Matt James and Rachael Kirkconnell Come out of Hiding at ESPY Awards.” Matt’s relationship with the franchise is somewhat strained, and the former lead went so far as to scrub the show from his Instagram bio, so it’s not surprising that he didn’t seem to appreciate Fleiss’ tweet. “Ain’t nobody hiding!,” Matt shot back, with a photo of him and Rachael giving Fleiss their best sass face.
The former lead’s time on the franchise was not easy—he received a lot of undeserved criticism and hateful comments from racist fans. Even members of Bachelor Nation, like Chris Harrison, showed a stunning level of ignorance about Matt’s experiences as a Black man. It’s actually surprising that Matt has found love with Rachael after the show, given how much the decks were stacked against him. Matt even spoke about needing therapy after his season, so Fleiss’ tweet feels a little insensitive to the traumatic experience Matt endured.
Although The Bachelor is all about finding love, more often than not it doesn’t happen. Matt and Rachael seem very happy together, but it happened against all odds. Mike Fleiss shouldn’t be joking about Matt and Rachael coming out of hiding after everything they’ve been through as a result of the show that he created. However, Matt isn’t one to just play along, at least not now that he’s off the show. His quick clap-back at Fleiss is another example of how Matt has moved past Bachelor Nation, perhaps for good.
Source: Mike Fleiss/Instagram