The Bachelor 's Rachael Kirkconnell Documents Weekend in NYC with 'Cutie' Matt James
Rachael Kirkconnell and Matt James are enjoying their summer in New York City.
The Bachelor couple spent their weekend exploring the city together, hitting several ice cream shops along the way, as documented on Kirkconnell's Instagram Story Monday.
"Consumed more ice cream than usual this week," the reality star, 24, captioned one shot of a sundae from Sant Ambroeus in the West Village neighborhood.
Her next slides showed her and James, 29, donning matching light blue sweatsuits and then heading to breakfast at Community Food & Juice. "Breakfast is my fav meal," she wrote atop a picture of their meal.
Kirkconnell also posted photos from their trip to Lincoln Square and two additional ice cream shops, writing "hi cutie" alongside a snap of James holding his cup.
Rachael Kirkconnell/Instagram
"Told you guys… LOTS of ice cream," she wrote.
James and Kirkconnell fell in love during his season of The Bachelor, which aired earlier this year. Offscreen, Kirkconnell came under fire for her past racist actions, including being in attendance at an Antebellum-themed fraternity formal while in college.
Rachael Kirkconnell/Instagram
After controversially defending Kirkconnell, longtime Bachelor host Chris Harrison took a temporary leave of absence from hosting the franchise and officially exited his role in June.
Though James has since gotten back together with Kirkconnell, he initially said during March's After the Final Rose special that she needed to "put in that work" to better understand how her past behavior was wrong. (Kirkconnell issued an apology on Instagram in February.)
Rachael Kirkconnell/Instagram
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After the pair sparked reconciliation rumors following their public breakup, James told PEOPLE in April that he was "pursuing" a relationship with Kirkconnell. The following month, James said that Kirkconnell gave him an "ultimatum."
"She was like, 'If you're going to make this work, let's do it. But, if you're not going to make it work, I'm going to let you do your own thing,'" he recalled on the Pomp podcast. "That's really all I needed."
Rachael Kirkconnell/Instagram
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At the 2021 ESPY Awards earlier this month, the pair told PEOPLE (the TV Show!) correspondent Sandra Vergara about the obstacles they've overcome together and the criticism they have received along the way.
"I will say that, you know, of course, it was difficult in the moment, but just being able to step back and work on our relationship to assess," Kirkconnell said. "Taking a moment away from the spotlight's been really good for us. It's been a lot better."
Rachael Kirkconnell/Instagram
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Asked about whether they have any relationship advice, James joked that he doesn't "think anyone needs to listen" to his "tips" on romance.
"I'm following the lead of everybody else," James continued. "You know, I think that I look to people who have been where I'm trying to get to. Rachael's parents have been in a relationship for a long time. They've been married for probably about as long as I've been alive."
"So, you know, relationships that are prospering are what I kind of fix my eyes on and hope to emulate," he added.
