Matt James' Past Girlfriend Will be Featured on 'The Bachelor'

We haven't even seen the drama in store for this upcoming season of The Bachelorette (we already know there's a lot of it), but we're already hearing of some piping hot tea coming out of Matt James' season of The Bachelor. Matt's made a name for himself in the franchise, as he was good friends with Tyler Cameron before he was selected to be on Clare Crawley's season, only to be pulled for his own season of The Bachelor.

We're counting down the days until filming starts for Matt's season, but we're already hearing rumors about a potential ex-girlfriend of his. Who are Matt's exes, and what do they have to do with this upcoming season?

Usually, those who participate on The Bachelor are looking for a new opportunity to find love, but on occasion, it's also an opportunity for previous lovers' paths to cross again. We saw that with Peter Weber and Kelley Flanagan on the last season of The Bachelor. Kelly and Peter had met at a wedding before the season starting shooting, and even though he sent her home before the final four, the two are happy together now.

But it seems like Matt has a history with one of his potential contestants this season. Contestant Madison Nelson apparently dated Matt briefly long before he was ever revealed as the next Bachelor.  

"Some tea for you already: Apparently Madison Nelson was dating Matt last summer when Tyler was seeing GiGi," Reality Steve tweeted in 2020. "Went to one of the fashion shows with him. Here they are together. Heard they were together for at least a couple months."

He coupled the tweet with a blurry photo of Matt and Madison sitting next to each other at an event at New York Fashion Week.  

Though they had a brief summer fling in 2019, it seems Madison is looking for a second chance with the ABC star.

So, who is the woman who captured Matt's heart during their summer fling?

While the Bachelor Facebook page lists her hometown as Granger, Ind., according to her LinkedIn profile, Madison is currently based in New York City, working for IBM. Considering Matt has called the Big Apple home for quite some time now, this is probably how the two initially crossed paths.

Not much is known about their relationship in terms of how serious they were or why they decided to split, but we're sure we'll hear about their past on this upcoming season. 

When it comes to his love life, it looks like The Bachelor will be Matt's first time publicly dating anyone. There isn't much else known about his dating life beyond what we know about the contestants on his season — even his Instagram seems to be barren of previous lovers. The only ex we can find scrolling through it is an unnamed blonde woman, who Matt briefly dated in 2013 (likely while he was in college).

In the two pictures they have together on his profile, neither of them is tagged, so either this mysterious ex doesn't have an Instagram or they didn't end on good terms.

Catch new episodes of The Bachelor on Mondays at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.