Matt James Reportedly Dated One Of His 'Bachelor' Contestants For Months

The next season of The Bachelor just got way more interesting. After ABC released the names and photos of 42 women who may be cast on Season 25, Reality Steve did some sleuthing... and you're going to want to hear what he found. Matt James reportedly dated Madison Nelson, one of his Bachelor contestants, "for at least a couple months" in 2019 when Tyler Cameron was dating Gigi Hadid. (Elite Daily reached out to Nelson and a rep for James for comment but didn't hear back in time for publication.)

"Some tea for you already," the entertainment blogger tweeted on Tuesday, Oct. 6. "Apparently Madison Nelson was dating Matt last summer when Tyler was seeing GiGi. Went to one of the fashion shows with him. Here they are together. Heard they were together for at least a couple months."

On Wednesday, Oct. 7, Reality Steve shared more information about the reported relationship in a blog post on his site. "I heard it wasn’t too long, maybe a couple months, I don’t know if he ended with her, she ended it with him, or whether it was a bad breakup, etc," he wrote. "I don’t know anything but I know they dated and it was somewhat serious considering some of the text convos I saw. How will Matt react when he sees her? I’m guessing that’ll be a major early storyline."

ABC released Nelson's age and hometown — she's 27 and grew up in Granger, Indiana — but beyond that, very little is known about her. Nelson's Instagram account is currently private. If she and James dated around the same time Tyler Cameron and Gigi Hadid were an item, that means they may have dated between August and October 2019.

It's important to keep in mind, however, that just because Nelson is on ABC's list of 42 potential contestants, there's no guarantee she'll make it onto the show. The cast will likely be narrowed down before filming begins.

If Nelson does wind up on the show, it won't be the first time this franchise's producers cast a star's former flame. In Season 21, Nick Viall was stunned to see Liz Sandos step out of the limo; the two had met at their mutual friend (and Bachelor and Bachelor in Paradise contestant) Jade Tolpert's wedding and had had a one-night stand. Viall sent her home in Week 2 because he didn't see a future with her.

In Season 24, Peter Weber was surprised to see Kelley Flanagan step out of the limo; they had met in a hotel lobby and danced the night away weeks before filming began.

Of course, you know how that story ends! Weber sent Flanagan home in Week 7, proposed to Hannah Ann Sluss, broke off that engagement, briefly attempted to make his relationship with Madison Prewett work, aaand... finally reconnected with Flanagan to give their relationship another try. Considering they're moving in together, it looks like things are going smoothly now.

Only time will tell what will happen with James and Nelson.