February 03, 2021 • bachelor insider
Rachel Lindsay Joins Bachelor Matt James for His Viral TikTok Dance and We Can't Stop Watching
In case you missed it, Matt James treated contestant Magi Tareke to an impromptu performance of a TikTok dance as the credits rolled during the January 25 episode of “The Bachelor.”
The very next day, former Bachelorette Rachel Lindsay joked on her “Bachelor Happy Hour” podcast that Matt’s little jig was one of the most “cringey” moments in Bachelor Nation history.
So, on Tuesday, when the handsome lead made a satellite appearance on “Extra,” Rachel — who serves as a co-host for the newsmagazine program — questioned him about his dance, which ended up going viral.
“Normally, I have your back, OK? I have your back when it comes to all things. Last week, I could not. You want to talk about it? You want to set the record here straight on ‘Extra’? Do you know what I’m talking about?” Rachel said. “Last week, at the end of the episode, there were the credits. What happened, Matt?”
The New York City-based real estate broker replied with a giggle, “Listen, if you put music on that dance, I killed that!”
Rachel then told Matt that he missed an opportunity to woo Magi. “Matt, this was your moment to grace Magi with your charm,” she said, to which he responded, “Magi was hyping me up!”
Regardless, Rachel had notes for Matt. “You could have grabbed her hand. You could have pulled her in close. You TikTok danced for her, Matt James. What was that? Not your finest moment, can we agree?” she stated.
“Not my finest moment, but I’ll say this — how often is it that you have somebody be like, ‘Rachel, dance for me real quick.’ Like, what are you gonna do with no music?” Matt pointed out.
Rachel then recalled a memory with her now-husband, Bryan Abasolo, from her time as the Bachelorette during 2017’s Season 13.
“We were on a group date and I remember Bryan grabbed me and he started salsa dancing with me. And I said, ‘Ooh, that was smooth.’ He made it about us. I felt it was very Gen Z for you to TikTok dance with her,” she told Matt.
“I did. And I really wanted to give you a chance to redeem yourself here on ‘Extra,’” she added, before inviting Matt to join her in an encore performance of his TikTok dance.
“You want to do it together?” she asked. “We don’t have any music. I’m not trying to go out like you did in the credits, OK?”
Matt was eager to show Rachel how to do his dance and, afterward, they both broke out in fits of laughter.
“Did you see how people went wild over this? This was on ESPN, this was on NFL Network, we talked about it on [my podcast] ‘Higher Learning,’” Rachel told the former college football player. “Are you shocked that people had this strong reaction? I did. I said you didn’t read the room correctly!”
More than a week later, Matt has brushed it off. “You know what? There are probably a million different things I could have done better [as the Bachelor],” he said. “If it’s my dancing, then I’ll take that.”
Watch Matt and Rachel do their thing in the video below.
“The Bachelor” airs Mondays on ABC at 8 p.m. ET.