From a real estate broker to a TV personality, the story of Matt James, the first African-American lead of The Bachelor show, is quite interesting. The love from Bachelor nation fans has given him tremendous success, making him one of the popular The Bachelor leads.
The biracial TV personality currently is in a relationship with Georgia-based graphic designer Rachael Kirkconnell, whom he chose as his final rose in The Bachelor Season 25. However, their post-The Bachelor journey was not smooth, as they briefly split. How are the things between them as of now? What about his current career and net worth after the show? We have all the details here.
Matt James- Who Are His Parents? Age and Height?
The Bachelor star comes from a biracial family background; his father, Manny James, is Nigerian, while his mother, Patty Cuculo James, is white American. Born on December 5, 1991, James, who identifies as black, grew up in Raleigh, North Carolina, with his rapper brother John James (aka John the Scorpio).
Famed for his towering height of 6 feet 5 inches and signature facial hair (beard), the American TV personality is 29 years old as of August 2021.
CAPTION: The Bachelor star Matt James and his mother Patty SOURCE: Instagram@mattjames919 An attendant of Sanderson High School (2010 graduate), Matt James enrolled at Wake Forest University and obtained Bachelor's Degree in economics in 2015.
At the University, he met Tyler Cameron, The Bachelorette, and his colleague; with the help of the latter, James would nominate as The Bachelor figure.
Met The Love Of His Life On The Bachelor- Brief Spit & Reconciliation!
As of August 2021, the Wake Forest University alum is dating Rachael Kirkconnell, a graphic designer from Georgia.
The duo met on the dating reality show The Bachelor Season 25, where James was the lead, being the first-ever African-American. The 25th season of the show ran from January 4, 2021, to March 15, 2021.
Although it was not the connection, at first sight, fate gradually led them to connect. Following their first date, the spiritual and emotional attachment began to take effect, leading them to a successful Fantasy Suite Date, a 'makes or breaks couple moment' in the show.
CAPTION: Matt James gave the final rose to Rachael Kirkconnell in The Bachelor Season 25 finale SOURCE: YouTube@BachelorNation Eventually, on The Final Rose, he chose Rachel as his perfect second half, over Michelle Young, where 32 women had participated in search of love. Among them was Katie Thurston, the lead of The Bachelorette Season 17, who was eliminated in Week 6.
But, not all The Bachelor ends with an engagement, so was for the new couple James and Kirkconnell.
Did you know? On Tyler Cameron's late relator mother Andrea's nomination, Matt was cast for Clare Crawley's The Bachelorette Season 16. However, after the COVID-19 pandemic delayed filming, he rather went for the lead of The Bachelor Season 25.
Why Did Matt James and Rachael Kirkconnell Split? How They Got Along Again?
As the Bachelor Nation viewers know, the real test of love and commitment begins after the show. And at one point, the dating story of The Bachelor Season 25 couple nearly ended for good.
But why? Because the past racial actions of Kirkconnell came into light after one of her former high school classmates claimed that 'Rachael mocked classmates for being attracted to Black men.' Moreover, she reportedly wore culturally insensitive party costumes and attended an Antebellum-themed fraternity formal while in college.
Shortly after the controversy, in February 2021, the graphic designer apologized on Instagram for her past actions. However, the duo had broken up by then, just only after a month of dating.
During an After the Final Rose special in March, the Bachelor star stated that they are not in a relationship while adding she needed to work out on those.
CAPTION: James and his girlfriend Rachael Kirkconnell reconciled in May 2021 following their brief split in February SOURCE: Instagram@rachaelkirkconnell By May 2021, Matt confirmed that they were together to The Wall Street Journal following reconciliation rumors. Keeping out the past issues, the two are now on their new journey of relationship. Moreover, the couple is planning to move in together and would stay on East Coast, as per Page Six.
Now, both of them frequent Instagram mentions on their respective account. The TV personality's Instagram (@mattjames919) has 923K followers, while his girlfriend Rachel's Instagram (@rachaelkirkconnell) has 776K followers as of this writing.
Net Worth And Career Of 'The Bachelor' Season 25 Lead
As of 2021, Matt James has an estimated net worth of $250,000. A chunk of his fortune came through his days at The Bachelor Season 25, where the standard rate for Bachelors and Bachelorettes for 2 months of filming is $100,000. The only higher payment recorded was in 2012 to Season 8 Bachelorette Emily Maynard, who made $250,000 after negotiations.
Well, the brown eyes and brown-haired TV personality worked as a real estate broker before he grabbed TV fame.
As The Bachelor Season 25 already concluded, James made his way back to Greater New York-based CBRE Group Inc., where he works as an associate since May 2019. Having joined the company in October 2017, Matt saw positions in research and asset management earlier.
SOURCE: Instagram@mattjames919 Aside from that, he makes quite a sum through his Instagram endorsements, where he promotes Ithaca Hummus, Vita Coco, Lettuce Grow, and BlockFi (financial service). As per Influencer Marketing Hub, the TV personality can earn $2,802 - $4,670 per sponsored post via Instagram.
Moreover, James is the founder of the non-profit ABC Food Tours (founded in May 2018), which aims to find creative ways to engage kids from underserved communities in New York City.
Worked At Morgan Stanley And PNC Bank
Way back, the African-American TV figure was a broker assistant in 2014 at Davenport & Company LLC, and Merrill Lynch, before 2 months (July- August 2014) as social media strategies at Morgan Stanley. In 2015, he briefly tired out for NFL mini-camps of Carolina Panthers and New Orleans Saints but didn't get a signing.
Then, he was a junior analyst at Verger Capital Management LLC (August- December 2014) and as a banking analyst at Pittsburgh-based PNC Bank (February 2016- April 2017). Later, he joined CBRE Group Inc.