Rachael Kirkconnell On Social Media, Healing, & Dating

Rachael Kirkconnell is the celebrity crush of a boy who broke my heart, and I’m trying not to hold that against her. As we chat over Zoom, I let that tidbit slip. “Send me his name,” she says. “I'll block him on everything.” In that moment, I understand his crush.

Kirkconnell has been in the public eye since appearing on The Bachelor in 2020, where she won Matt James’ final rose. The duo dated for five years — and allowed fans to third-wheel their relationship via viral food vlogs and travel videos — before James announced their breakup on Instagram in January 2025, shocking his followers and Kirkconnell herself. (At the time, she was at the airport, getting ready to board her flight home from their trip to Japan.) Ten months later, she’s focused on crafting a solo career as a content creator, sharing mostly food and travel videos to her 1.5 million followers across Instagram and TikTok.

Despite her success, Kirkconnell doesn’t know if she’s “ever truly” felt like she made it as a content creator — at least, not yet. “For the first few ...