The Ben and Ashley I Almost Famous Podcast - Breaking News: Matt and Rachel

Episode Date: January 17, 2025

The break-up heard round the world! Ben and Ashley react to the shocking split of Matt James and Rachel Kirkconnell after 4 years together. We tell you what we know, what will happen next, and what this means for Bachelor Nation. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Let's start with a quick puzzle. The answer is Ken Jennings' appearance on The Puzzler with A.J. Jacobs. The question is, what is the most entertaining listening experience in podcast land? Jeopardy-truthers believe in... I guess they would be conspiracy theorists. That's right. They gave you the answers, and you still blew it.

The Puzzler. Listen on the I-Heart. radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hi, my name is Enya Humanzor. And I'm Drew Phillips. And we run a podcast called Emergency Intercom. If you're a crime junkie and you love crimes, we're not the podcast for you. But if you have unmedicated ADHD...

Oh my God, perfect. And want to hear people with mental illness, psychobabble. Yes, yes. Then Emergency Intercom is the podcast for you. Open your free IHeartRadio app. Search Emergency Intercom and listen now. Don't let biased algorithms or degree screens or exclusive professional networks or stereotypes.

Don't let anything keep you from discovering the half of the workforce who are stars. Workers skilled through alternative routes rather than a bachelor's degree. It's time to tear the paper ceiling and see the stars beyond. Find out how you can make stars part of your talent strategy at tear the paperceiling.org. Brought to you by opportunity at work in the ad council.

Tune in to All the Smoke Podcast, where Matt and Stacks sit down with former first lady, Michelle Obama. Folks find it hard to hate up close. And when you get to know people, you're sitting in their kitchen tables, and they're talking like we're talking. You know, you hear our story, how we grew up, how Barack grew up. And you get a chance for people to unpack and get beyond race. All the Smoke featuring Michelle Obama. To hear this podcast and more, open your free IHeartRadio app. Search All the Smoke and listen now.

This is the Ben and Ashley I, Almost Famous Podcast with IHartRadio. It's a special headlines episode for the Almost Famous Podcast. Today we are here to talk about something that's not that fun to talk about, but it is a headline. And I'm sure viewers and listeners want to know what we know about the Matt and Rachel situation. Now, here is what we know. So far, we were kind of brought on to this because of a post on Instagram that Matt did announcing their breakup. This was a sweet post, but it didn't go into any detail, and it really didn't hardly say they broke up other than one line where he said something about helping them get through this time as they have separated. That's all we know.

However, through some investigation this morning from our team, we do have some sources that are close to Matt and Rachel that Ashley is going to speak about. And then we're going to get into some speculation and also some recent updates. What have been we've been seeing from Matt and Rachel over the last few weeks that led up to this moment? All right.

So they have been posting nonstop on their trip from London. Some people are saying that the trip from London wrapped about a week ago, but they were very happy seeming during this trip. he has been posting pictures and videos of the trip as of last yesterday evening it was like 17 hours ago that he posted a reel as of the time that i got on this computer um if we want to go this dark deep reddit people are saying on reddit that matt was leaving comments on tic talk about rings getting engaged and some people were saying that she was probably getting

sick of him doing that without actually proposing. Another rumor thought from Reddit is that this is the type of shit and the trip to Europe with no ring during this season when everybody's getting engaged was probably the final straw for her. Guaranteed she was expecting some sort of proposal in London and when she didn't get it

she decided this was it. All right. Two valid thoughts, I think. the things that they've been posting seemingly are i want to say that it's mostly been him posting this week of the two of them and it doesn't seem to be sponsored content because in some relationships especially in bachelor nation i'm thinking about chris and crystal they had to do some sponsored posts before announcing their breakup because you know you want to get the money from for what you've done and being together we get it. But this is Sue, this is just really out of the blue for us because one of the last

headlines that we read about them was that he was planning a proposal. It seemed like it was just around the bend. They have been together for four years. That is a long time to date without a proposal. Before we move on, let me read the caption. This was posted at 6 a.m. Eastern time. People are like, maybe Matt was on a run and he decided to post it then because people were speculating about how weird it was that it was early so early here's the caption father god give rachel and i strength to mend our broken hearts give us a peace about this decision to end our relationship that transcends worldly understanding shower our friends and family with kindness and love to comfort us and remind us that joy comes from you lord heartbroken emoji

Now, my initial thought was, oh, man, I want this to be some prank on us because I was reading so many comments under the headline. You said that this morning in a text. It's like, what kind of prank is a breakup post? Like, that would make me more mad than than breaking up. Okay. A prank to the public, I believe. But there was a lot of this. There's a lot of chatter.

it was like every fourth comment was saying could this be a prank on us but as much as I would love to believe that because I really really was rooting for them they got they went through so much together I can't imagine that he would use a prayer as a prank like he's not going to do a fake prayer right no way he started his season with the prayer with the girls I respect a man of faith. I think this caption is saying enough for us to know it's over. Now, the speculation from Reddit, I don't think, is completely unfair. So I do want to acknowledge that this was a very tough time for them and also respect the fact that they broke up and that we don't, we're not really owed too much information. Yeah. However, some weird things that stood out to me,

actually, that I think are standing out to most people. They have done a tremendous job at separating themselves from the show completely i mean they right away you know matt especially was like i'm done i'm moved on this thing is is what it was we met together and the show is going to have no association with my life and that is a okay that is a very fine strategy however the breakup post is a picture of them at the bachelor mansion which is odd to me. Yes. It's also the moment that they met. They're holding hands. Maybe there's some symbolism to that. It just feels, okay, I guess personally, it feels like a interesting choice, I should say, for this picture to announce a breakup when they have obviously done so much

other since then. They have been posting, or he has been posting on social media, that seems like nothing is going on. And then as you mentioned, from the sources that we have that very close to Matt and Rachel, when they woke up this morning and saw this post, they expected it to be a proposal post. Like an engagement announcement. Yeah, an engagement announcement. So people close to them had no idea that things were happening. So with all that being said, as Reddit does, I don't think they're far off with there

had to be some frustration with the desire to get engagement and the jokes continuing about the rings and a potential engagement and never happening even with all these trips going on and all these times together. I would imagine at some point that would get frustrating, especially for the one that's like, are we ever going to do this thing? Like what am I doing? I'm getting older. We've dated for a long time. Are we ever going to actually make this thing, you know, the real deal? That would be my assumption, my speculation based on the clues that we have. I have no context of that outside of the fact that most people that knew them thought at some point here soon, they were going to get engaged.

Ironically, that was also the reason that he left the show not engaged because he just wasn't ready. And so he was like, let's date in real life. Well, they haven't been dating in real life for four years now. I will say this. This might be advised for him to be listening. If you've been dating somebody, in your later 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s, 70s, 80s,

as the Golden Show does. Basically, as you're saying, if you're not in high school or college. For four years. And the two of you are on a different page when it comes to the future. It's probably time to step away. Yeah. Now, if you two are on the same page, you're like, we're not going to ever get engaged,

we're not into this marriage thing, or whatever that may be, we're saving up money. And we both know that the timing will be once we get enough money together, all that stuff. But if you're on different, if you're on different pages there after four years. And this conversation has not seemed to ever come together in a compromise or into an excitement about what the future could hold. It's probably time to move on. Yeah. Hi, my name is Enya Emanzor.

And I'm Drew Phillips. And we run a podcast called Emergency Intercom. If you're a crime junkie and you love crimes, we're not the podcast for you. But if you have unmedicated ADHD... Oh my God, perfect. And want to hear people with mental illness, psychobabble. Yes, yes. Then Emergency Intercom is the podcast for you.

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Any thoughts as to the fact that she hasn't posted? This is six hours now after he posted. From my experience, I would typically say the person most hurt and most confused

is the one that is hesitated. to share with the public. I mean, if you're confident in this decision, you're sharing with the public. If you're still on a place of mourning, healing, being a little angry, you're not sharing this with the public because you probably don't have nice,

like you don't have this, it's probably really hard for you to type out a caption that says what you want to say and doesn't slam the person. Now, again, this is speculation. That's my guess. If you're asking me why I think, that's been my experience. Is that been your experience with Lauren?

I can't remember, actually, honestly. That was, you were so tied to the show still at that point. Yeah, I can't remember how that worked out. You must have been, you must have had aid. Good point. You had PR around you. Okay, I just also want to mention that this 18 hours ago real that they posted, or that he posted. She's not a collaborator on it.

it was everything we ordered at at crisp pizza so i'm wondering if it was sort of a collaboration with the restaurant for free pizza well i mean that's i don't know they are food blockers really so i don't know if they have to disclose whether it's an ad or not i'm sure a lot of these places are paying them to eat there yeah but i think it'd be super duper weird of him just to post a funsy reel with her 18 12 hours before if you're going if you're if you're if you need to post this real so you needed to post this real last night he posts it why would he decide i'm just going to announce the breakup tomorrow wait a week it's very confusing honestly uh also i can't imagine a restaurant's paying enough for you to say hey by the way we're going to hold this deal like i'll just give you

the money back and pay for the pizza and we're not going to post this because it feels inappropriate at this time like there's no way one restaurant is paying enough to make it worth sharing and then the next day being like oh by the way after that piece of pizza we broke up last night this is not in live time supposedly well that's what it feels like to the public though I know I know that the public is going to assume that like oh you post a restaurant this is probably where you ate last night no but even if it was a week ago that where they ate did they ate there a week ago it's still like holy crap yeah like that's a fast turnaround for the breakup but also if you have to post for the restaurant and you're broken up at least hold off the breakup announcement for a week yeah

it's not a good look on the restaurant maybe the pizza wasn't good the pizza looks freaking incredible I'm so I'm thinking about what I'm going to eat after this podcast after looking at their Instagram and you know how you mentioned earlier that they're so like not necessarily they're not necessarily tied to the show so much anymore. My nanny walked in today and she was like, did you hear about Matt and Rachel? She goes, I never watched them on the show, but like, I love their food blocking.

That's how she knew them. That's sweet. I mean, it's too bad because they did have a long road, a good thing going and they had dated for a long time. They obviously have a really rough start, not because of the two of them, but just because of the timing and what was going on the show, obviously that was during the time of Chris Harrison's departure from the show.

You kind of, I remember a conversation you and I had on this podcast where we said, if you can make it through these moments, it feels like you have the strength to really do this thing long term. And I never expected them to break up because four years in, you're thinking they've both agreed that this is just a path they're taking. Yeah. This was a shock this morning to so many. Hey, that's all we have for you.

That's a special headlines episode. We'll continue to share any information we have as we go. Obviously, breakups aren't the most fun thing to talk about, but they are a big part of the headlines within Bachelor Nation. So until next time, I've been Ben. I've been Ashley. See ya. Follow the Ben and Ashley I, almost famous podcasts on IHartRadio,

or subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts. Let's start with a quick puzzle. The answer is Ken Jennings' appearance on The Puzzler with A.J. Jacobs. The question is, what is the most entertaining listening experience in podcast land? Jeopardy-truthers believe in... I guess they would be conspiracy theorists. That's right.

They give you the answers, and you still blew it. The Puzzler. Listen on the I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hi, my name is Enya Umanzor. And I'm Drew Phillips. And we run a podcast called Emergency Intercom. If you're a crime junkie and you love crimes, we're not the podcast for you. But if you have unmedicated ADHD...

Oh my God, perfect. And want to hear people with mental illness, psychobabble. Yes, yes. Then Emergency Intercom is the podcast for you. Open your free IHeartRadio app. Search Emergency Intercom and listen now. Don't let biased algorithms. or degree screens, or exclusive professional networks, or stereotypes.

Don't let anything keep you from discovering the half of the workforce who are stars. Workers skilled through alternative routes rather than a bachelor's degree. It's time to tear the paper ceiling and see the stars beyond it. Find out how you can make stars part of your talent strategy at tear the paper sealing.org. Brought to you by opportunity at work in the ad council. Tune in to All the Smoke Podcast. where Matt and Stacks sit down with former first lady, Michelle Obama. Folks find it hard to hate up close.

And when you get to know people and you're sitting in their kitchen tables and they're talking like we're talking. You know, you hear our story, how we grew up, how Barack grew up. And you get a chance for people to unpack and get beyond race. All the Smoke featuring Michelle Obama. To hear this podcast and more, open your free IHeart Radio app. Search All the Smoke and listen now. This is an IHeart podcast.

Thank you.