'The Bachelor' couple Matt James and Rachael Kirkconnell talk overcoming "difficult" time in their relationship By Elizabeth Kwiatkowski, 07/15/2021 The Bachelor couple Matt James and Rachael Kirkconnell have opened up about the "difficult" time they went through when trying to reconcile and fix their relationship following their February breakup. ADVERTISEMENT "I will say that, you know, of course it was difficult in the moment, but just being able to step back and work on our relationship to assess," Rachael, 24, recently told People. "Taking a moment away from the spotlight's been really good for us. It's been a lot better." Now that the couple is "out of hiding," according to