Before the other events of this week took center stage, The Bachelor premiere.
Matt James' premiere episode gained a great deal of attention, as much for prayer as for a very conspicous vibrator.
But there was a time when Matt would have never considered becoming the franchise's leading man.
This week, Matt revealed the heartbreaking event that prompted him to step into the milestone role.
On Tuesday, January 5, Matt James spoke with Ryan Seacrest in a remote interview.
"Heck no! I never thought I'd be doing something like this," Matt confessed.
"Like, I had work, I was doing things with the kids, I was in a great spot, I thought," he explained about his previous contentment.
But in a painful confession, Matt shared Tyler Cameron's role in his ascendancy to The Bachelor.
Or, more accurately, Tyler's mother's role.
It turns out that it was all but her dying wish to see her son's friend take on the mantle.
"His mom, Ms. Cameron, actually nominated me," Matt detailed.
"She passed away around this time last year," he noted.
Andrea Hermann Cameron passed away in March of 2020 at the far-too-young age of 55.
"And I think she saw how much it meant for Tyler," Matt reflected, "and how much he grew as a man."
"And," Matt continued, "how much she wanted that for me."
He concluded his explanation by dedicating his season to her, saying: "and so it's homage to Ms. Cameron."
"That's such a sad loss," Ryan commented in response to that heartbreaking tale.
"But," he observed, "a beautiful story."
Matt and Tyler are of course very close, and were good friends long before they were part of the "Quarantine Crew" on TikTok last spring.
Matt and Tyler have known each other since they were kids.
They played football together at Wake Forest University.
Matt has heaped praises upon his good friend for his role on Hannah Brown's season of The Bachelorette.
"I saw how much Tyler changed as a man, going through that experience," Matt expressed.
"That's something that I wanted for myself, and I didn't know I was capable of those things," he admitted.
Matt continued: "Seeing how relationships presented themselves with my mom and my dad and in my life."
Matt has been in relationships before -- he is a 29-year-old man and almost obscenely good-looking.
He admits that he makes every effort to avoid repeating his father's mistakes as he pursues romantic leads.
Matt, like so many people, confessed that he has a "fear of ending up like my dad," who was largely absent from his life.
"I saw what it looked like in my family when he rushed into something he wasn't ready for," Matt explained to Ryan.
"And," he acknowledged, "we're still dealing with the blowout and the fallout from his selfish decisions."
Matt wants to do better than his own father did while honoring his good friend's dearly departed mother. ABC picked a very admirable leading man to be their first-ever Black Bachelor after a quarter of a century.
