What to know about Raleigh native’s ‘Bachelor’ finale and culturally significant season
Monday is fast approaching, and that means the season finale of the ABC dating reality show “The Bachelor.”
Why should you care?
Glad you asked.
This season’s star, Matt James — the bachelor looking for love — is not only a Raleigh native, who graduated from Sanderson High School and went on to play football at Wake Forest University, he’s also the first Black bachelor in the show’s 25-season history.
James’ season has also been “The Bachelor’s” most racially diverse season ever. And there has been an off-screen shakeup involving race that resulted in the show’s longtime host “stepping away” from the franchise.
So whether you think the show is silly or not — and there’s an argument to be made on either side — this season has been culturally significant, and will likely significantly impact any seasons going forward.
But for now, whether you’re watching on Monday or not, here’s what you need to know about Matt James and this season of “The Bachelor.”
Who is Matt James?
Matt James was born in Raleigh and raised, along with his brother, by a single mom, Patty James, who is white. His father, Manny James, is African. Both parents have appeared on the show.
His parents divorced when James and his brother were young, and according to James, his father wasn’t around much. He confronted his father about all of that — his infidelity and his absences — on last week’s episode.
James attended Green Elementary School and Durant Road Middle School in Raleigh, and graduated from Sanderson High, where he played football and basketball.
He played wide receiver at Wake Forest University from 2011 to 2014.
More current non-”Bachelor” stats: James is 6’5” and 28 years old. He works with a real estate investment firm in New York City (his home base now) and is involved in a program in New York that helps children affected by homelessness.
Matt James as ‘The Bachelor’
James started out meeting 32 women in the season premiere and sent 7 of them home. A couple of episodes later, ABC dropped five new women into the cast, just to shake things up. Later in the season, another woman showed up (from a previous “Bachelor” season) to try to join the cast.
Considering the 38 women who were on the season, 65.8% of the women were non-white, according to an analysis by the BachelorData Instagram account, which measures all kinds of interesting “Bachelor” and “Bachelorette”-related data.
That makes James’ season by far the most racially diverse season in “Bachelor” or “Bachelorette” history. (Note: there have been two Black female leads on “The Bachelorette” — Rachel Lindsay and Tayshia Adams).
But even with this season having the most racially diverse cast, diversity problems remained. For instance, other research by BachelorData shows that on most episodes, even when the number of non-white contestants outnumbers the number of white contestants, the white contestants still got more screen time.
Were there any Raleigh shout-outs this season?
One of the most significant local shout-outs this season came in the form of contestants.
▪ Among the women vying for James’ attention were Khaylah Epps, a healthcare advocate from Durham, and Lauren Maddox, a corporate attorney from Miami, who graduated from UNC.
When Epps met James in Episode 1, she showed up in a pickup truck instead of a limo, saying she wanted to be James’ “reminder of home.” Later that evening, she invited him for a sweet tea break in the back of the truck. Epps toasted to “North Carolina roots grounding us, but bringing us together on this very special journey.” Epps went home in Episode 4.
On a group date with Maddox, in Episode 2, James jokingly told her: “You’re beautiful, you’re smart. Unfortunately, you went to Carolina.” Maddox went home in Episode 5.
▪ Also in Episode 5, James had a country-themed group date that involved various farm-related activities. In this episode, James told us that even though he grew up in Raleigh, he is “a country boy at heart” and “grew up working on a farm.”
▪ In Episode 6, James took Pieper James on a date to a mini State Fair in the woods of Pennsylvania. He told us: “Growing up, going to the fair was something I looked forward to 365 days of the year. That feeling I got when I walked through the gates and I saw all the lights, that was magical.”
▪ Also in Episode 6, James’ best friend Tyler Cameron made a guest appearance. They played football together at Wake Forest.
▪ In Episode 8, during a date with Canadian Serena Pitt, James revealed to the world that in North Carolina, we call a knit cap a “toboggan.” (Well, many of us do, at least!)
The Rachael controversy
There is always plenty of squabbling on “The Bachelor” and “Bachelorette,” but this season, the most significant drama took place off-screen.
A TikTokker did a deep dive into the social media accounts of several of the women still around at the end of the season, and found racially-problematic social media posts by Rachael Kirkconnell, a graphic artist from Georgia.
A scan of her activity showed that she had liked some posts with Confederate flags, and had shared some very sketchy QAnon theories. There were also photos that showed Kirkconnell attending an antebellum-themed plantation party in 2018 and dressed as an American Indian at another party.
The backlash was pretty immediate. And it was made worse when host Chris Harrison, the face of the “Bachelor” franchise since its premiere 19 years ago, did an interview with Rachel Lindsay (the first Black “Bachelorette”) on the TV show “Extra,” and defended Kirkconnell’s posts, saying that her behavior is bad for 2021, but wasn’t bad in 2018.
There was more backlash, and Harrison announced that he would step away from the show “for a period of time.”
In his apology on Instagram, Harrison said, “By excusing historical racism, I defended it,” adding that “This historic season of The Bachelor should not be marred or overshadowed by my mistakes or diminished by my actions.”
Kirkconnell also apologized, via Instagram, saying she didn’t realize at the time how racist her actions were. She later posted a video asking her supporters to stop defending her actions, because they were wrong, and said she is working on becoming anti-racist.
James also posted a statement on social media, calling the experience “devastating and heartbreaking,” and saying that “the past few weeks have been some of the most challenging of my life.” He described the photos of Rachael as “incredibly disappointing” and the Harrison interview as “troubling and painful.”
Harrison has appeared on the entire “Bachelor” season, including the pre-taped “Women Tell All” special and the pre-taped two-hour finale airing on Monday. But he will not host the “After the Final Rose” special at 10 p.m. — that will be Emmanuel Acho, a former NFL linebacker and host of the online series “Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man.”
There’s no word yet on when or if Harrison will return to the show. Filming for “The Bachelorette” should start soon.
The two finalists
One of the reasons the news about Rachael Kirkconnell was such a big deal is because she is one of the two women left in Monday’s finale. She has also long been considered Matt’s “favorite” on the show.
There are spoilers on the internet that can tell you more about James and Kirkconnell if you care to know.
The other finalist is Michelle Young, a school teacher from Minnesota. She and James seem to have a lot in common — they both work with kids and are committed to “giving back” to the community, and they are both bi-racial (Michelle also has a white mother and a Black father).
How to watch ‘The Bachelor’ finale
The pre-taped “The Bachelor” finale will air at 8 p.m. Monday, March 15, on ABC. A live “After the Final Rose” episode airs at 10 p.m.
You can also stream “The Bachelor” the next day at abc.com/shows/the-bachelor or on Hulu.
Recaps of Matt James’ episodes of ‘The Bachelor’
Catch up on our previous Matt James coverage:
▪ Raleigh’s Matt James named ABC’s first Black “Bachelor”
▪ Durham woman is a contestant on “The Bachelor”
▪ See Matt James in middle school yearbook photos
▪ Episode 1 recap: Meet, pray, love with Matt James
▪ Episode 2 recap: Matt James is a prince, but there’s an evil queen, too
▪ Episode 3 recap: The Sarah Show finale
▪ Episode 4 recap: A (literal) battle for Matt James
▪ Episode 5 recap: Matt James ousts bullies Victoria and Anna
▪ Episode 6 recap: Matt James loves the State Fair
▪ Episode 7: Matt James picks the four women whose families he’ll meet
▪ ‘Bachelor’ Matt James and his ‘dates’ attend Wake Forest basketball game. Sort of.
▪ Episode 8: Matt meets the families, Serena breaks his heart
▪ Episode 9: Matt James - The Women Tell All
▪ Episode 10: Overnight dates + Matt’s conversation with his dad
This story was originally published March 12, 2021 at 10:21 AM.
