Matt James was friends with Tyler Cameron long before they both joined Bachelor Nation. However, fans started to speculate that James’ relationship with Rachael Kirkconnell put a strain on his bromance with Cameron.
Cameron and James met while attending Wake Forest in North Carolina. The two former football players even moved in together in New York City after Cameron’s stint on Hannah Brown’s season of The Bachelorette.
At the start of the Covid pandemic in 2020, James was among Cameron’s friends who moved into his house in Jupiter, Florida, to quarantine. That June, ABC opted to make James the next Bachelor after he nearly appeared on season 16 of The Bachelorette. James later revealed that Cameron’s late mother was the one who encouraged him to join Bachelor Nation.
When James left to film The Bachelor in fall 2020, Cameron visited and made a cameo on one of the one-on-one dates. During the finale, James picked Kirkconnell over Michelle Young but didn’t propose. As the season was airing, James and Kirkconnell split after her past racially insensitive actions resurfaced. They eventually reconciled in April 2021.
The couple continued to hang out with Cameron throughout their relationship, but fans began to question whether Cameron and James were still friends after the former Bachelor referred to Cameron and Kirkconnell’s relationship as “love-hate” in May 2022. Less than three years later, James and Kirkconnell called it quits.
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