Yahoo Finance Cassie Randolph Says COVID-19 Had ‘Nothing to Do with’ Colton Underwood Split
Cassie Randolph is opening up abou her shocking split from Colton Underwood.
On Monday's episode of The Bachelor: The Greatest Seasons Ever! which highlighted Trista Sutter's season 1 of The Bachelorette, Randolph, 25, spoke out about her and Underwood's breakup for the first time since announcing the news in May.
"I'm doing okay, don't know if I want to talk all about the breakup at all," Randolph reluctantly told host Chris Harrison.
Randolph went on to share that after Underwood's season 23 ended, they were doing "really good."
"We had a really great relationship the entire time and we got along really well," Randolph explained to Harrison.
Randolph held back on sharing their reason for breaking up saying: "It's kind of a sensitive subject because I feel we're still kind of going through it and I'm still pretty emotional — and we really haven't talked about it publicly yet ... and I don't know if either of us is ready."
Randolph did reveal that their decision to part ways has been "really hard" especially due to it being public.
"Going through any breakup is hard, but then going through one publicly comes with a whole new set of challenges that ... I've never gone through any of this before. We're both learning how to navigate it."
As for whether or not Underwood's positive COVID-19 diagnosis had anything to do with their split, which came after over a year together, Randolph told Harrison "No."
"Quarantine and COVID-19 had nothing to do with our breakup at all. I think if anything, that whole experience of going through him having COVID and being with my family kind of made us closer even. It was crazy because he was one of the first people to get it, and I was like, 'Of course, this would happen,' " Randolph explained.
Still, Randolph said she and Underwood, 28, remain on "good terms" an are "hanging in there."
Despite the difficult time, Randolph said she has "no regrets at all" and has learned a lot throughout the process.
Frazer Harrison/Getty Colton Underwood, Cassie Randolph
"I think for me the biggest thing that I've learned from everything has been to be confident — because even doing this, I'm a little nervous."
When asked if she was nervous about upsetting Underwood, Randolph told Harrison, "A little bit."
The former Bachelor couple announced their split on Instagram just two months after Randolph helped nurse Underwood back to health after he contracted coronavirus.
Both showed some love for the other's post, commenting with heart emojis.
"First off, I want to say this is one of the hardest things I have had to share as neither one of us is quite ready to talk about it yet," Randolph wrote. "However, because our relationship is such a public one, our silence on the matter has been speaking for us. Colton and I have broken up, but have decided to remain a part of each others lives. With all that we have gone through, we have a special bond that will always be there. I love Colton very much and have an enormous amount of respect for him. We have both learned and grown so much these past couple years, and will always have each others back. Always."
Underwood captioned his post, "Its [sic] been a crazy few months to say the least, Cass and I have been doing a lot of self-reflecting. Sometimes people are just meant to be friends — and that's okay. We both have grown immensely and been through so much together — so this isn't the end of our story, it's the start of a whole new chapter for us."
A source told PEOPLE at the time that the breakup "happened recently," adding that "they put a lot of thought into it. Ultimately, Colton and Cassie just weren’t on the same page. Colton really wanted to settle down and get married — he’s been ready for a long time. And Cassie just wasn’t ready. They both knew it wasn’t going to work.”
Cassie Randolph/Instagram Cassie Randolph and Colton Underwood
A second source added: "This is definitely amicable. It was a mutual breakup. Colton and Cassie are still good friends, and they want to stay friends. It’s definitely a priority for them. Colton is sad, but he’s looking forward to what the future may bring."
In June, Randolph revealed that she had been struggling since the split.
"The last 2 years I’ve been thrust into a spotlight after living a fairly normal life. Since then, I’ve been trying to learn how to navigate my life changes while also trying to cling to who I am," the model began a lengthy Instagram post.
Randolph continued to explain that she feels like her new platform after the show was "paralyzing," and led her to "overthink everything."
"It takes really thick skin to navigate constant drama, fake articles, nasty DMs & comments or rumors started by people who feel entitled to your personal life. It takes incredible mental strength to shrug off strangers who regularly criticize your character based on conclusions they drew while watching an edited tv show (I could say so much here). It can feel like an uphill battle. Sometimes I want to just say what I want & forget my sensitive side that strives to do the 'right thing', be calm & rational, be kind, think of others first etc.," she wrote.
Randolph said that she felt like telling all the "mother ffers hating" on her due to the breakup to "please stop."
"It’s been an awful few months for ME trying to go thru it. I’m STILL going thru it. It’s hard enough w/out your know-it-all comments. You literally know nothing so go away," she wrote, adding that such feelings make her feel "selfish" considering "truly critical issues in the world right now: BLM, Covid, toxic politics, matters of life and death; social injustice. Kinda puts personal problems in perspective."
