Matt James might be known to the general public as Tyler Cameron‘s super cute BFF and an active member of the “Quarantine Crew,” but fans are *hopefully* about to get to know him a little better as a contestant on Clare Crawley‘s upcoming season of The Bachelorette. Unfortunately, due to the ongoing pandemic, the season has been put on hold, but Matt spoke to HollywoodLife.com in an EXCLUSIVE interview and revealed that he is hopeful he will still be able to win Clare’s heart! “I have my eyes set on somebody right now and she’s in Sacramento and hopefully when all this stuff settles down, I’ll be able to meet her,” he gushed.
While there have been talks of recasting for Clare’s season due to the situation, ABC bosses have yet to confirm anything. However, they have promised the 38-year-old hair stylist from Sacramento, CA will get her season. “She’s always been resilient,” Rob Mills told Deadline. “We’re going to do her a season and it’s going to be fantastic. If she finds a person, then this all means it was all meant to be. We’ll be nimble.” Chris Harrison added to the conversation in an interview with Access, saying the show is not actively recasting the 32 previously announced men. “I’m just saying there might be new guys only because some of these guys just might not be able to make it. I mean, who knows if these guys have jobs now, are looking for jobs, what their families look like. All of our world has been turned upside down, so we’re not going crazy trying to recast the show. I’m just saying we might have to,” the host said.
Matt spoke to HL to help promote NEOU’s 12-hour Fit-A-Thon on Instagram Live on Thursday, April 23 to raise money for healthcare workers on the frontline of the COVID-19 pandemic. Matt and other celebrities and influencers will be partnering up with NEOU’s incredible fitness instructors to lead workouts over the course of 12 hours. All proceeds raised will be donated to the grassroots organization Operation Food Fight, which provides meal deliveries to hospitals around the New York City area. “I think everyone’s looking for ways that they can contribute right now, and what better way to do that than to support the people who are on the front lines of this pandemic and servicing the people who are being affected by it, because I’m sure by now we all know someone who has been affected by it,” Matt explained.
“It’ll range from from classes that are HIIT boot camp style to yoga, and kind of everything in between. It’ll be a nice varied mix of fitness for everybody,” added Patrick Long, who is organizing the event and was Matt’s teammate on the Wake Forest University football team. “Everything will be scalable and accessible — we’re cognizant of the fact that everybody’s kind of sequestered in their own homes. These workouts will be spread out throughout the day and everything will be based around the fitness element and plugging the initiative, just trying to drive people to donate and give back.”
The Fit-A-Thon will begin at 7:00am and last for 12 hours. Participants can donate here throughout the entire event and 100% of proceeds will go to benefit Operation Food Fight. To tune in live, visit the NEOU instagram @neoufitness.