Matt James confirms he and Rachael Kirkconnell are back together

ABC/Craig Sjodin

It's official, Bachelor star Matt James confirmed he and Rachael Kirkconnell are back together and working hard on their relationship.

The two parted ways earlier this year after Rachael's problematic past social media content -- including 2018 photos of her attending an antebellum plantation-themed party -- came to light. 

The Bachelor star appeared on the Pomp podcast and explained why he wanted to rekindle their romance.

"She was like, 'If you're going to make this work, let's do it. But, if you’re not going to make it work, I’m going to let you do your own thing,'" Matt said. "That’s really all I needed. It was an ultimatum that I needed."

Saying that things have "been great" so far, the 29-year-old reality star continued, "It was honestly a commitment that we made to each other that we were going to work on the relationship."

"There came a point in time where it was evident that my working on the relationship looked different than Rachael’s because I wasn’t really honoring that commitment that I made to working on the relationship," Matt added.

During his season of The Bachelor, Matt -- who is the franchise's first Black male lead --  fell in love with Rachael but after her past controversial remarks resurfaced, the two ended things before the show' final episode, After the Final Rose, aired.

Rumors that the two reconciled first sparked in April and Matt later confirmed to the Wall Street Journal that the two were working things out.

Wednesday, May 26, 2021 at 1:00PM by Megan Stone Permalink