Rachael Kirkconnell (born September 26, 1996) is an American television personality, who is best known as the winner of

season 25 A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's axial tilt, tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperat ...

of '' The Bachelor''.

Early life and education

Kirkconnell was born and raised in

Cumming, Georgia Cumming is a city and the county seat of Forsyth County, Georgia, United States, and the sole incorporated area in the county. It is a suburban city, and part of the Atlanta metropolitan area. In the 2020 census, the population is 7,318, up fro ...

to parents Darrell and Kim Kirkconnell. She has a sister, Trinity, and a brother, Greyson. She graduated from West Forsyth High School in 2015, and then from

Georgia College & State University Georgia College & State University (Georgia College or GCSU) is a public liberal arts university in Milledgeville, Georgia, United States. The university enrolls approximately 7,000 students and is a member of the University System of Georgia ...

in 2019 with a degree in marketing. While in college, she was a member of

Alpha Delta Pi Alpha Delta Pi (), commonly known as ADPi (pronounced "ay-dee-pye"), is an International Panhellenic sorority founded on May 15, 1851, at Wesleyan College in Macon, Georgia. It is the oldest secret society for women. Alpha Delta Pi is a member ...

, but left the sorority after attending a controversial

Antebellum South The ''Antebellum'' South era (from ) was a period in the history of the Southern United States that extended from the conclusion of the War of 1812 to the start of the American Civil War in 1861. This era was marked by the prevalent practic ...

plantation themed formal. Prior to appearing on ''The Bachelor'', Kirkconnell was working as a graphic designer in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

, Georgia.

''The Bachelor''

Kirkconnell was a contestant on Matt James' season of '' The Bachelor''. James, who was the first African American male lead in the show's history, chose her over fellow finalist Michelle Young. However, he did not propose. During the live ''After the Final Rose'' special in March 2021, it was revealed that James had made the decision to end his relationship with Kirkconnell after her racially insensitive past was brought to light.

Racism controversy

While James' season was airing, Kirkconnell came under fire after she was accused of several racist actions, including liking racist social media posts and bullying girls in high school for their dating preferences. James was forced to address these allegations after a photo of Kirkconnell attending an

plantation-themed fraternity formal in 2018 went viral. In February 2021, Kirkconnell issued a public apology for her past behavior, calling her actions "ignorant and racist" and pleaded with people not to defend her.

Personal life

Kirkconnell and James broke up while their season was airing, but got back together in April 2021. They broke up again in January of 2025, with Kirkconnell appearing on an episode of the podcast ''

Call Her Daddy ''Call Her Daddy'' is an advice and comedy podcast created by Alexandra Cooper and Sofia Franklyn in 2018. The podcast was formerly owned and distributed by Barstool Sports until June 2021, when it was announced that Cooper had signed an exclusiv ...

'' to discuss their split.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kirkconnell, Rachael 1996 births Living people Bachelor Nation contestants Georgia College & State University alumni People from Cumming, Georgia