Bachelor Nation
‘Bachelorette’s Clare Crawley Shades Matt James & Claims She ‘Asked’ Not to Date Him on Show
Why should we care that Clare Crawley is weighing in on Matt James and Rachael Kirkconnell‘s split? Well, she claims to have some insight into the former Bachelor lead’s character and shared her reaction to the breakup on Instagram.
Crawley revealed on Wednesday, January 29, that she was officially back on social media after a two-week detox. After sharing some of her own updates, she revealed that she had caught up on the latest Bachelor Nation drama and gave her two cents.
“SMH at some of this stuff,” Crawley wrote. “Remembering that one time I specifically asked producers to please not allow one specific guy on my season because I knew for a fact he was NOT looking for a serious relationship whatsoever and I didn’t want him to waste anyone’s time. So instead, they made him the next Bachelor.”
Clare Crawley/Instagram
Crawley’s Bachelorette season aired in 2020, so the casting and filming schedules were shaken up by the COVID-19 pandemic. In March 2020, James was announced as one of 32 cast members for the show. He already had an “in” with Bachelor Nation thanks to his friendship with Tyler Cameron, who was the runner-up on Hannah Brown‘s season of The Bachelorette.
However, shortly after the cast list was announced, the world went into lockdown, and filming on Crawley’s season was delayed. A new list of 42 potential cast members was confirmed in July 2020. Only 17 of the original 32 men made the recast, and James was not one of them. Instead, he was revealed to be the lead for Season 25 of The Bachelor.
James chose Kirkconnell at the final rose ceremony and they left the show as a couple, though they did not get engaged. Although they briefly broke up as the season was airing, they eventually got back together in April 2021. After nearly four years of dating, James announced earlier this month that he and Kirkconnell had called it quits.
During a recent appearance on the Call Her Daddy podcast, Kirkconnell opened up about the split and addressed speculation that her ex was dragging his feet on proposing. She said he had recently told her to start looking at rings and revealed that he even brought up engagement before their trip to Tokyo, Japan, which is where the breakup took place. However, after a series of small arguments on the vacation, James wound up telling Kirkconnell that he didn’t see a future with her and couldn’t see himself asking her to marry him.
Meanwhile, Crawley got engaged to Dale Moss on The Bachelorette, but they split in 2021 after an on-and-off relationship. She’s now married to Ryan Dawkins, whom she shares a daughter with.
