‘The Bachelor’ Alum Rachael Kirkconnell Gets Last Laugh on Ex Matt James With New Ad

If The Bachelor alum Rachael Kirkconnell is still hurt by her recent and surprising split from ex Matt James, she has certainly found a way to turn her pain into some monetary gain.

“Even though I don’t have to worry about picking out the perfect dinner spot anymore, life can still get messy,” the newly single Kirckonnell, 28, said in a new ad for Brawny shared via her Instagram on Sunday, February 23 — a clear reference to her previous relationship with The Bachelor star James, 33, and their now infamous breakup.

“But now, I have someone I can always rely on,” Kirkconnell continued in the video, after a friend dramatically spills marinara sauce on her kitchen counter while making homemade pizzas. As the ruggedly attractive Brawny man magically appears to clean up her mess, Kirkconnelll adds: “Someone strong, and reliable, too.”

Kirkconnell then takes a jab at her former boyfriend, who announced the end of their four year relationship rather abruptly via Instagram last month.

“And no matter what surprises come my way,” she begins, as she spills cheese on her phone while it is bombarded by social media and text message notifications, “Brawny is always going to be there.” (According to Kirkconnell, she had no idea the public announcement of their split was coming, telling Alex Cooper on the January 28 episode of the “Call Her Daddy” podcast that she was boarding a plane when her phone started “blowing up” with notifications.)

The Brawny man then cleans up the mess while confidently telling Kirkconnell, “I got you.” He hands Kirkconnell’s newly-cleaned phone back, to which she sweetly replies, ‘Thank you,’ while holding a glass of wine.

The message, and not-so-subtle jab at her new ex, was clear: those of Us who are newly single need a mess-cleaning pro every now and then. In less than 24 hours, the ad racked up more than 1.5 million views, according to a statement from the Brawny Brand to Us Weekly.

According to Kirkconnell, she and James split during a trip to Japan after an argument over where they should eat dinner turned into an out-of-the-blue breakup conversation. (For the uninitiated, James is known for being an unapologetic foodie known for sharing food posts on Instagram.)

“We had gotten into an argument right then and there, like walking in the street, we skipped lunch, we went back to the hotel and just ended up having a bigger conversation,” she explained during the same January “Call Her Daddy” episode.

“We were just a little irritated with one another. But then it was like, okay, now that we’re back here again where you’re annoyed with me, I’m annoyed with you,” she continued. “I feel like you’re in the wrong. You feel like I’m in the wrong. He really just kind of let out everything that I guess he had been feeling for a while. I don’t know.”

Kirkconnell went on to add that while the pair had previously discussed engagement rings and even starting a family, ultimately James confessed that he “had this realization that I should want to propose to you by this time” — and he didn’t.

“He said that, you know, ‘Maybe one day he would get there, but he doesn’t feel ready now.’ And I told him, I said, ‘Well, I feel like after four years you should know or you should feel ready,” she added. “And if you don’t then that’s not a good thing. We probably shouldn’t be together if you don’t feel like that after four years because you know me better than anyone.’”

While Kirkconnell is now navigating the single life, it appears that she’s able to laugh it off — with a little bit of cleaning help.