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The Bachelor: How Matt James Knows Heather Martin

The Bachelor: Here's the Roundabout Way Heather Martin Knows Matt James

THE BACHELOR - 2501  Matt James, the charismatic and engageing star of ABCs hit romance reality series The Bachelor, will hand out the roses for its momentous 25th season. After meeting Matt as a prospective suitor for The Bachelorette, Bachelor Nation swooned when they learned he would take on the role as the lead of his own love story. Matt is the total package with strong family values, a great career, and has used his growing platform for good. His emerging legion of fans cant wait to follow the 28-year-old real estate broker, entrepreneur and community organisation founder on his journey to find love during this historic season. Although Matt hasnt been in love before, he feels he is ready now to welcome it into his lifeno matter what challenges he will faceas he starts his search for his happily ever after on the season premiere of The Bachelor, MONDAY, JAN. 4 (8:00-10:00 p.m. EST), on ABC. (ABC/Craig Sjodin)MATT JAMES

The Bachelor has just kicked off Matt James's season, and the drama is already on its way. Among the surprises teased in a sneak peek at the end of Monday night's premiere is the arrival of a very familiar face: Heather Martin, a former Bachelor contestant who — apparently — shows up to shoot her shot with Matt later this season. So, what's the deal? Do they know each other outside the show? The answer to that requires a chain of Bachelor Nation connections!

The connection between Matt and Heather is a slightly roundabout one, but it's an important one too. Heather was on Colton Underwood's season of The Bachelor, where she memorably revealed that she'd never been kissed. While on that season, she befriended fellow contestant Hannah Brown, who soon became the next Bachelorette, and they remained good friends after filming ended. Then, as everyone will remember, one of Hannah's finalists was fan-favourite Tyler Cameron. Although Hannah initially rejected Tyler in favour of Jed Wyatt, she and Jed broke up once his cheating scandal came to light, and she and Tyler struck up a close friendship — to the point that they wound up quarantining in the same bubble earlier in 2020! And, of course, Tyler's best friend is Matt.

So, to summarize: although Heather and Matt aren't necessarily close friends, they're connected through Heather's friendship with Hannah, Matt's friendship with Tyler, and Hannah and Tyler's own relationship. As far as we know, Heather and Matt have never dated, although it's certainly possible that they're closer than they've made publicly known.

Did Hannah (or Tyler) have a hand in setting up Heather's appearance on the show? Who knows, at this point, but we're interested to see how it all goes. Regardless of what their pre-show relationship actually is, it will certainly add some major drama to have someone with an off-show connection arriving to shake up the season midway through!

Image Source: ABC
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