The Bachelorette alum Tyler Cameron has suggested his best friend Matt James is still healing and recovering from his breakup with Rachael Kirkconnell.
After four years of dating, Matt dumped his The Bachelor 25 winner, Rachael, during a trip to Tokyo and then publicly announced their split via Instagram in January without giving Rachael any warning.
Although Rachael was blindsided and heartbroken by the breakup, she now appears to be living her best life with more Instagram followers and modeling opportunities than ever before.
But fans haven't heard much from Matt about how he's doing or if he's ready to start dating again.
When asked if he's set Matt up on any dates recently, Tyler, 32, told Us Weekly, "I haven't tried."
Tyler -- who had finished as the runner-up on Hannah Brown's season of The Bachelorette in 2019 -- hinted that Matt has yet to completely move on from Rachael.
"I think you've got to lick your wounds for a little bit first, and then you've got to put yourself back out there," Tyler shared.
"We're still early," he added.
However, Tyler said Matt -- whom he had met in college -- is currently doing well.
When Matt announced his breakup with Rachael, he wrote via Instagram, "Father God, give Rachael 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 our Joy comes from you, Lord."
Rachael previously said on the "Call Her Daddy" podcast that she was sitting on a Georgia-bound plane waiting for it to take off when she saw Matt's Instagram post.
Rachael recalled her phone blowing up with text messages and calls, only to lose WiFi signal and have no phone connection for the next 12 hours.
Rachael admitted she felt "pure shock" and "so much confusion" about Matt's decision considering he had been so vocal in the media about his desire to propose marriage to her and start a family in the near future.
Rachael said that Matt felt some regret about the way he had dumped and blindsided her.
Matt allegedly didn't view Rachael as his perfect person. He was allegedly concerned about how emotional she got during challenging times and how she supposedly didn't apologize and take accountability for her mistakes.
Shortly after their breakup, Rachael wished she and Matt could remain friends, but she also admitted to Alex Cooper that she could never reconcile with the former The Bachelor star because of how he had disrespected her at the end of their relationship.
"It's just sad to look back on now -- four years later, that's how things went out," Rachael explained.
"It's definitely something to not dwell on, but something that I wonder if I'll always be a little bummed out about."
Rachael expressed how she's now looking for a man who will show her respect, listen to her and empathize with how she's feeling.
"You need to have not only compassion for your partner, but also compassion for yourself," Rachael told Us.
"And not only compassion, but just making sure you have respect for yourself and for one another."
Rachael said she also wants her future boyfriend to be supportive and accept her for who she is -- "flaws and all" -- because she plans to treat him the same way.
"And to always just make sure you are being an uplifting partner," Rachael continued.
"I won't speak for all women, but for me personally, I can be pretty self-conscious at times, or I can be really, really hard on myself."
Rachael, however, said she wasn't quite ready to begin dating again and it's unlikely she'll get involved with someone from The Bachelor franchise again.
"Listen, I'm never going to totally shut the door on anything. That's not me, but I also feel like it's pretty soon and I don't think I'm ready for that," Rachael said.
Rachael added with a laugh, "Maybe you won't see me on the beaches of Paradise, but you might see me on the beaches elsewhere, just a vacation by myself."
Matt's The Bachelor season filmed in late 2020, and he was shown giving Rachael his final rose on the Season 25 finale that aired in early 2021.
When Matt broke up with her in Tokyo, Rachael recalled on the "Call Her Daddy" podcast: "He said that, at the end of the day, there were qualities about me that he worries about having in a wife, like... there are things we are not compatible with."
She elaborated, "[He said], 'I should want to propose to you. At this point in our relationship... I should be ready for that, but I'm not still. I still don't feel like I'm ready. I don't know if I ever see myself proposing to you. I can't actually see myself married to you.'"
As far as Tyler's love life goes, he's happily dating a woman from his hometown of Jupiter, FL, Tate Madden, whom he recently gushed about as potentially being The One.
