Matt James made history this season, becoming the first ever African American bachelor in the franchise’s history. Fans, especially fans of color, were ready to watch James’ journey to find love, but his season quickly went from James finding love to a statement of how racial prejudice impacts people of color.

The season started off with the expected drama between the women in the house, fighting over time with James and starting rumors about one another, but the juiciest drama occurred after filming had ended. Before fans knew whether or not Rachel Kirkconnell was the winner of James’ heart, concerning pictures from her past came to light. Pictures of Kirkconnell attending an antebellum plantation themed fraternity party arose across social media. Chris Harrison was quick to come to Kirkconnell’s defense during this interview with Rachel Lindsey, the show’s first black bachelorette. Harrison quickly issued an apology on his social media and stepped away from the final episode of “The Bachelor” as well as the next season of “The Bachelorette.”

When the photos appeared and Harrison spoke in their defense, viewers couldn’t have known Kirkconnell had stolen James’ heart and would ultimately be the woman he chose at the final rose ceremony. Personally, when it came down to Kirkconnell and Michelle I figured James would choose Michelle—to me it seemed like their relationship was stronger and they had more fun together. However, I’m aware that as viewers we don’t always get to see the full extent of the relationships developed on the show, so I accepted James’ choice in Kirkconnell with cautious optimism. However, knowing the recent scandal that had plagued Bachelor nation, my hopes weren’t high. They seemed happy and in love at the final rose ceremony, but the live tell all after the finale revealed the fate of their relationship.

As expected Harrison was not the host of the After the Final Rose tell-all. Instead, Emmanuel Acho a former NFL player was this season’s host. James and Kirkconnell were interviewed separately, the first time since I’ve been a Bachelor nation fan that the bachelor and the final contestant weren’t interviewed together. James revealed that after the pictures of Kirkconnell at the antebellum plantation themed party surfaced, their relationship became strained, eventually leading to a breakup. James admitted to Acho and all of Bachelor nation that he felt Kirkconnell couldn’t understand him as a person after the racially insensitive photos came to light. He said he felt deeply hurt by them, and the sadness showed on his face. He looked exhausted. Kirkconnell expressed remorse and assured Bachelor nation that her intentions were not malicious but came from a place of pure ignorance and that she was working to better herself.

Fans had mixed reactions to the break up. Personally, after finding out that Kirkconnell was the winner, I didn’t have very high hopes that they would stay together—knowing what I knew about the controversial photos of her. What I didn’t expect was that James would take everything so hard. He looked so sad and just mentally exhausted at the tell-all. Everyone was able to see the toll the situation had taken on him. He admitted to Acho that he felt the legacy of the first black bachelor had been tarnished by this ending to his love story with Kirkconnell.

While James and Kirkconnell’s ending was by no means ideal, I think their breakup was for the best. As far as tarnishing his legacy, Matt James never once compromised his believes or values while being the bachelor. He even refused to propose at the final rose ceremony because he didn’t feel he was ready for marriage. He went into this experience looking for love and went through the process as honestly as possible. He also took all the women’s feelings into account and tried to control the unnecessary drama. James was, in my opinion, of the best bachelors in the show’s history.

Article by Marissa Mayfield