Matt James' Kissing Style Is the Least of His Problems on 'The Bachelor'

There are plenty of moments from Season 25 of The Bachelor that have garnered tons of attention on social media already. 

Katie introducing herself with a vibrator during the premiere, Victoria Larson acting as a “Queen,” and Sarah Trott fainting at the end of Episode 2. 

However, it seems that Matt James kissing with his eyes open has become the primary topic that fans can’t stop talking about.

As we all know, lip-locking comes with an unspoken rule of keeping your eyes closed. However, Matt’s unorthodox approach to kissing has made him a victim to frequent trolling sessions on social media. 

And at this point, all we can think to ask him is, Why?

We can all agree that Twitter is a social app where jokes will always fly — no matter the subject at hand. And after Matt kissing with his eyes open was aired for millions of people to see, thoughts and feelings about his awkward lip-locking style quickly filled the Bachelor Nation timeline. 

 And one of the trollers was none other than his best friend and former Bachelorette star Tyler Cameron. 

“YOOOOO WHY ARE UR EYES OPEN BRO,” Tyler tweeted along with a few laughing emojis. "Ayyyyoooo @mattjames919 what we got going on over here.”

Matt took the hilarious dig in stride, responding “Gotta make sure no one sneaking up on us! When your eyes are closed.. ANYTHING can happen! It’s for both of our protection,” James tweeted, adding the crying with laughter emoji to his own post.

As you can imagine, Bachelor Nation has been having a field day with the jokes, with more tweets poking fun at Matt and some of the contestants.

There's no denying that Matt being named the first Black Bachelor is an achievement within itself. However, he has had a tough time winning over Bachelor fans of color and the news of him possibly being a Black Republican has made things worse. 

Knowing that he may align himself with that political party is troubling for some fans. 

Not to mention, there are fans who believe that he may end the season with a white woman as his fiancée. Of course, love should not be dictated by color. But some fans were turned off by his comments about dating someone of a specific race and what love should look like. 

"You’ve got people who are cheering for you to end up with a specific person, a specific person of a specific race,” he explained to Chris on the show. 

“That’s something that kept me up at night. It’s like, I don’t want to piss off Black people, I don’t want to piss off white people, but I’m both of those, you know what I mean? It’s like, how do I please everybody?”

And while some viewers can understand where he's coming from, others simply took his talk with Chris as an indicator that he'll choose a white girl as his mate. 

There are some viewers that are hoping to see him be the first to advocate and showcase Black love on primetime television. So, hearing his views feels like a disappointment for Bachelor fans of color. 

Plus, some viewers were not pleased with him opening up the cocktail party on Episode 1 with a prayer. Since religion can be a touchy topic for some, his prayer was met with mixed reviews. 

“He should have worded it in a more inclusive way,” one reddit user wrote. “It came off as centric to his belief system, and in a diverse group like this, where he pretty much doesn’t know any of them, it may be viewed a little insensitive or even arrogant.”

"I'm a Christian and I liked that he did it," another reddit user shared. "These people weren’t obligated."

No matter how you feel about Matt James, we can all agree that this season is going to be filled with plenty of twists and turns.

Watch The Bachelor Mondays at 8 p.m. EST on ABC.