From Bachelor to Ballroom! Matt James Joins Season 30 of 'DWTS'
From The Bachelor to the ballroom! ABC personality Matt James is set to compete on Dancing With the Stars season 30, Us Weekly can exclusively reveal.
James, 29, made his reality TV debut as the season 25 Bachelor. His season, which aired in early 2021, ended with him choosing to continue a relationship with controversial contestant Rachael Kirkconnell, who came under fire for past racially charged Instagram posts.
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The duo briefly split after her social media activity resurfaced, but reunited in April.
“It was honestly a commitment that we made to each other that we were going to work on the relationship,” the ABC Food Tours cofounder said during an episode of the “Pomp” podcast in May. “There came a point in time where it was evident that my working on the relationship looked different than Rachael’s because I wasn’t really honoring that commitment that I made to working on the relationship.”
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The athlete is one of many Bachelor Nation stars to compete on the competition show. Trista Sutter, Melissa Rycroft, Jake Pavelka, Sean Lowe, Chris Soules, Nick Viall, Joe Amabile, Hannah Brown and Kaitlyn Bristowe all appeared on DWTS over the years.
ABC will announce the full cast of Dancing With the Stars on Wednesday, September 8, but already revealed that both JoJo Siwa and Olympian Suni Lee are set to compete. Siwa, 18, will make history as the first celebrity to dance with a pro of the same sex.
“I think it’s cool, I think it breaks a wall that’s never been done before,” the Dance Moms alum, who came out earlier this year, told press during a Television Critics Association panel on August 26. “I think it’s really special that I get to share with the world that you can love who you love, but now you can dance with who you want to dance with.”
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Us can also confirm that Real Housewives of Atlanta star Kenya Moore will be in the ballroom this season. Former RHOA stars NeNe Leakes, Kim Fields and Kim Zolciak-Biermann have competed in the past, as have Real Housewives of Beverly Hills members Lisa Vanderpump, Erika Jayne and Lisa Rinna. TMZ was the first to report Moore’s casting.
Dancing With the Stars season 30 debuts on ABC Monday, September 20, at 8 p.m. ET.
