Rachael Kirkconnell is aware that she wasn't exactly a ray of sunshine during this week's The Bachelor.
On the Monday, March 8 episode of the romance series, Matt James went on fantasy suite dates with his three remaining contestants: Michelle Young, Bri Springs and Rachael. As Rachael waited for the first two women to return from their respective one-on-ones with the Bachelor, she got progressively more disheartened and ultimately broke down in tears before the start of her own date.
Right before Rachael and Matt met up, he told the camera he hoped Rachael is "as fired up as I am" about the date. Then, viewers saw an extremely solemn Rachael talking about her fears.
A fan noticed this and tweeted, "Matt: I hope Rachael is fired up today!" It was followed by "Rachael today:" and showed images of a young girl sprawled out on the floor of a home and looking despondent.
For her part, Rachael shared the post on her Instagram Story and added a pair of tears-of-joy emojis.
As fans know, this has been a much-debated season for reasons that go beyond the actual on-camera dating. Last month, Chris Harrison announced he was temporarily "stepping aside" from the franchise after defending Rachael's controversial past behavior during an interview with Rachel Lindsay.
The controversy stems from photos that went viral showing Rachael attending a fraternity event in 2018, which a Redditor described as an "Antebellum plantation themed ball." She released a statement on Feb. 11 to apologize for her actions, while Matt referred to the photos as "incredibly disappointing" in his own statement on Feb. 22.
Rachael's most recent post on her Instagram grid is a message supporting Rachel after the former star of The Bachelorette took a break from Instagram amid harassment from Bachelor Nation fans.