Rachael Kirkconnell is taking a seat at the judges table. And her official critique about boyfriend Matt James' exit from Dancing With the Stars is that he "deserved better."
On Tuesday, Oct. 12, the Bachelor alum and partner Lindsay Arnold became the fourth couple to be eliminated on season 30 of the ABC show. A day later, Kirkconnell, who supported her boyfriend amid his short journey on the series and attended the pair's rehearsals and tapings, posted her thoughts on her Instagram Story.
"Guys, what the heck?" she said in a selfie video. "I am sitting at home right now. I was just in L.A. a few hours ago. I took a red eye last night at almost 1 in the morning, got here this morning and I'm bummed. I'm sitting here, like, just bummed out because I didn't even realize last night was going to be my last night in L.A. for a while. "I thought I was going to be back in a week. Now there's just, like, no reason to be."
She continued, "I just want to say that Matt and Lindsay, they just did so, so incredible. I'm so happy I could be there to see them do their thing. I love them both so much. I wanted to see more of them. I just think they deserved better, so I'm just bummed out. But that's my two cents."
She also wrote, "I just saw up close how hard they both worked every single day and I don't think their experience was over yet."
On the series' Disney week, James and Arnold first danced the Quickstep dressed as characters from The Incredibles and later performed a Jungle Book-inspired Paso Doble. Just prior to their elimination, fellow competitors Brian Austin Green and dancing and real-life partner Sharna Burgess were also voted off the show.
James himself seems to be taking the rejection in stride, sharing on E!'s Daily Pop, "Nothing ever really catches me off guard anymore. Someone's gotta go home every week, so I'm hoping that Kenya [Moore] and Brandon [Armstrong] freakin' ride out, you know?"
But Dancing With the Stars host Tyra Banks thought the pair would continue to receive the judges' rose, so to speak. "There's such a Bachelor following," she shared, "I thought Matt would be here a lot longer."