Matthew James (born December 5, 1991) is an American television personality, businessman, and former

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

football player. James is best known for being the first male African-American lead for '' The Bachelor'' in

season 25 A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and pol ...

Early life and education

James was raised in

Raleigh, North Carolina Raleigh (; ) is the capital city of the state of North Carolina and the List of North Carolina county seats, seat of Wake County, North Carolina, Wake County in the United States. It is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, second-most ...

, the son of Manny and Patty James. Growing up, James was raised by his mother. He is biracial, having a Black Nigerian father and White American mother. James identifies as black. He graduated from Sanderson High School in 2010 before going to

Wake Forest University Wake Forest University is a private research university in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Founded in 1834, the university received its name from its original location in Wake Forest, north of Raleigh, North Carolina. The Reynolda Campus, the un ...

. James obtained his Bachelor's degree in Economics from

in 2015 where he was also a wide receiver for

Wake Forest Demon Deacons The Wake Forest Demon Deacons are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Wake Forest University, located in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. They compete at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level as a mem ...

football team from 2011 to 2014.

Professional football

He had

mini-camp A mini-camp, also spelled minicamp, is a short camp held by National Football League (NFL) and Canadian Football League (CFL) teams usually in spring of each year. The camp usually only lasts 3 days, but the length varies by a day or two depending ...

tryouts with the

Carolina Panthers The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL), as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. T ...

and

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. Since 1975, the te ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

in May and June 2015, but was not signed by either team.

Career

Before moving to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, James worked at

PNC Bank The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. (stylized as PNC) is an American bank holding company and financial services corporation based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Its banking subsidiary, PNC Bank, operates in 27 states and the District of ...

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

. He works for CBRE Group, Inc., a commercial real estate company in New York City. James is also the founder of ABC Food Tours, a non-profit organization that educates children in underserved communities about food and exercise in New York City.

''The Bachelor''

James and ''The Bachelorette'' contestant

Tyler Cameron Tyler Cameron (born January 31, 1993) is an American television personality, model and general contractor. Cameron received national attention as a contestant on season fifteen of '' The Bachelorette'', starring Hannah Brown, in which Cameron wa ...

, his friend and work colleague, played football at Wake Forest University together. Cameron's mother nominated James to be a contestant on ''

The Bachelorette A bachelorette is an unmarried woman. Bachelorette may also refer to: Film and television * ''The Bachelorette'', a reality television dating show part of ''The Bachelor'' franchise with numerous versions: ** ''The Bachelorette'' (American TV ser ...

'' before she died. James was originally cast to be a contestant for season 16 of ''The Bachelorette'', starring

Clare Crawley Clare Dawkins ( Crawley) (born March 20, 1981) is an American television personality, best known for her role as the runner-up on the 18th season of ABC's '' The Bachelor'' and as the lead of the 16th season of ''The Bachelorette''. She also ...

, but after filming was delayed due to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, he was instead selected to be the next Bachelor for

of '' The Bachelor'', becoming the first male African American lead in the franchise's history. He is the first Black Bachelor lead in the show's history. The season concluded with James choosing to pursue a relationship with 24-year-old graphic designer

Rachael Kirkconnell Rachael Kirkconnell (born September 26, 1996) is an American television personality, who is best known as the winner of season 25 of '' The Bachelor''. Early life and education Kirkconnell was born and raised in Cumming, Georgia to parents Da ...

''Dancing with the Stars''

In September 2021, James was announced as one of the celebrities competing on

season 30 A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and po ...

of ''

Dancing with the Stars ''Dancing with the Stars'' is the name of various international television series based on the format of the British TV series '' Strictly Come Dancing'', which is distributed by BBC Studios, the commercial arm of the BBC. Currently the forma ...

''. He was partnered with

Lindsay Arnold Lindsay Arnold Cusick (born January 11, 1994) is an American professional Latin dance, Latin and ballroom dancer. She was a contestant on ''So You Think You Can Dance (American TV series), So You Think You Can Dance''. She is a professional danc ...

. They were eliminated on week 4, finishing in 12th place.

Personal life

As of March 2022, James is in a relationship with

, the woman he chose on ''The Bachelor''. James is also a marathon runner and participated in the 2022 New York City Marathon.

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:James, Matt 1991 births Living people People from Raleigh, North Carolina Players of American football from North Carolina American football wide receivers Wake Forest Demon Deacons football players Bachelor Nation contestants African-American players of American football 21st-century American businesspeople 21st-century African-American businesspeople American nonprofit businesspeople