Rachael Kirkconnell is looking toward the future following her split from Matt James — but that doesn’t mean she isn’t scared.
When Tay Lautner asked Kirkconnell, 28, whether anyone slid into her DMs recently, the former Bachelor contestant replied, “Honestly, I joke about it with my friends, but no. No one that I threw my phone across the room, freaked out about.”
“Sometimes I worry about that because I’ve been so public with my relationship, I had such a public breakup,” Kirkconnell, 28, said on the Wednesday, March 26, episode of “The Squeeze” podcast. “And I wonder if I’m either a red flag or intimidating to guys, I don’t know. I wonder if guys are like, ‘Oh, I don’t want to get involved with that.’ I don’t know, I don’t know. And again, I shouldn’t be thinking like that. I don’t know. Yeah, I don’t know. I guess we will see.”
Kirkconnell said she’s not currently “throwing [herself] out there,” but instead hopes her next relationship unfolds “naturally, organically [and] randomly.” When it comes to dating apps, Kirkconnell shared that they “kind of intimidate” her because there are people on there who are “not necessarily looking for a serious relationship.”
“I’ve never really been a hookup kind of girl,” she explained. “I really have to just know them on a deeper level and have almost like an emotional connection to them. So that’s another thing that scares me about dating. I really do feel like I’m going to just have to know them on a deeper level to even, like, consider a relationship with them. And I just don’t know if people’s intentions are true when they’re on those apps. Of course, it’s a ‘dating app’ but I think that a lot of people aren’t using it to find relationships.”
She continued, “That’s the only reason I would say I’m opposed. I’m not against it and I think like, again, like you said, a lot of people have found relationships from it and I love that. I’m not talking down to anyone who’s on dating apps. I’m just kind of scared of them.”
Kirkconnell made headlines in January when James, 33, revealed that the pair went their separate ways after four years of dating. Days after the announcement, Kirkconnell shared her side of the breakup story during an appearance on Alex Cooper’s “Call Her Daddy” podcast. As she moves on and searches for The One, Kirkconnell shared that she’s still figuring out the qualities she wants in a future partner.
“I just want someone who’s nice and not afraid to be romantic or a romantic. Again, I’m not saying that Matt did or didn’t do these things,” she said. “I said this earlier, a few weeks after, how I just really want a simp. Everyone had a lot to say about that word in particular. And I agree, I hate that word because the definition of it is someone who isn’t afraid to be romantic or really show his love for his woman or just be downbad for his girl. Like, I want that.”
She continued, “I just want someone to be so affectionate and loving toward me and scream it from the top of the world and not care what anyone thinks. I guess I want a lover boy. At the end of the day, I’m a hopeless romantic and I do think that I need someone to match that energy.”
