NEWSIs 'Bachelor' Star Matt James Willing To Date Again After Rachael Kirkconnell Drama Turned His Life Upside Down? OK! Has The Answer
April 28 2021, Published 1:37 p.m. ET
During season 25 of The Bachelor, Matt James didn't find his happily ever after with Rachael Kirkconnell after past racially insensitive photos of her surfaced online. So, is the 29-year-old stud ready to find love again?
"The biggest thing I am focused on right now is this marathon I got coming up and this triathlon," he tells OK! while discussing his partnership with Dick's Sporting Goods for May's National Runners' Month. "I hadn’t swam over a quarter mile before, and I think I have to swim a mile for this triathlon, so I have been spending a lot of time in the water and just making sure that everything else is in line, training wise, so I am prepared for the next few events I have coming up."
Even though James' season didn't end on a good note — he and Kirkconnell revealed on After the Final Rose they had parted ways — he "feel[s] great."
"I am doing things that ground me, and things that keep me grounded are exercising and surrounding myself with friends and family," he shares.
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"I did a lot of running as the show was airing. So much so, to the fact where it’s like I am not putting this to waste!" he adds. "I have to start training for a marathon if I am coming out and running 12 miles, 17 miles at a time, so that is where I am at. I have kind of parlayed this time of my life into a ground for training for a triathlon and a marathon now."
Even though his season was filled with lots of drama, there was at least one silver lining the TV personality took away from his time on the small screen.
"I would say that it showed me the importance of friends, family and community the way that everyone has rallied around not only myself, but the other women who participated in the season, and I have seen a lot of love and support. I have [also] been able to reconnect with a bunch of people through exercise," he says.
Although James may be busy working on his fitness, he is looking forward to seeing Katie Thurston try to find love on the reality show.
"Katie is incredible, and I think a lot of people found that out on my season," he says. "I am very excited for her to share her journey with everybody because she is incredible and hopefully it will end with her finding her person, and that is really all you can ask for."
