Cassie Randolph has broken her silence after her ex-boyfriend, former The Bachelor star Colton Underwood, came out as gay.
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"BFFs," Cassie, 25, captioned her photo with Lin Salas.
Cassie also wrote to her Instagram followers on Friday -- two days after Colton came out as gay Wednesday, April 14 on Good Morning America -- "Thank you everyone for the kind comments and messages. It means so much," according to Us Weekly.
Cassie also reportedly added a link to her YouTube channel on Friday via Instagram Stories.
"And yes, some of you are asking about my YouTube for this week. I decided to take the week off, but will have one again next week!!" Cassie added.
Cassie is reportedly staying at Private Paradise Villa in Cozumel with Lin and her younger brother Landon.
Cassie shared a video of her tropical view on Instagram Stories late last week as she strolled around the resort property with Landon.
The Season 23 The Bachelor bachelorette filmed herself dipping her feet in the ocean, and according to the UK's Daily Mail, Lin documented drinking skinny margaritas with Cassie and participating in dawn yoga sessions.
According to a source close to Cassie, the Randolph family is reportedly concerned Colton's alleged alarming actions last year are being overshadowed and maybe even forgotten by the recent celebration of his coming out.
Colton and Cassie, who dated for 18 months after meeting on The Bachelor's 23rd season, split in May 2020.
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Although their breakup was initially amicable and Colton and Cassie intended on staying friends, the pair had a social-media feud and then Cassie filed a restraining order against Colton in September 2020 because she was reportedly "fearful for her safety."
Cassie had accused Colton of putting a tracking device on her car post-breakup and stalking and harassing her. She also filed a police report in October of last year.
Colton later told multiple press outlets Cassie had dropped the restraining order after they were able to reach an agreement in private that addressed Cassie's concerns.
The Daily Mail reported The Bachelor alum Demi Burnett -- who also competed on Colton's The Bachelor season -- may have told Cassie about the luxury resort at which she's currently staying.
Demi reportedly posted photos from the same Cozumel villa just over a month ago, and Demi recently told The Sun that Colton needs to be "held accountable" for his behavior last year before he's is "celebrated" for coming out as gay.
"I know how that feels and I'm very proud of him for that," said Demi, who is openly bisexual.
"But I do want to make sure everyone respects Cassie who has gone through a lot and been very hurt by Colton. I know she would never have filed that restraining order unless she had no other choice. It must've been terrifying for her."
Demi reportedly added, "And I don't want anyone to forget about that. We can praise Colton for being brave and coming out but he needs to be held accountable for what he did to Cassie."
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Cassie was also "not made aware" in advance that Colton would be announcing he is gay on GMA last week, Us reported.
An insider told the magazine that Cassie is "still processing" the news, adding, "To be honest, she hasn't really had time to navigate how she feels about it yet."
"Post-breakup was an emotional journey for her and it was painful at times," the insider explained of Cassie late last week.
"She has taken a lot of steps to move on in life and has been focused on her well-being and her happiness. She has not been in communication with Colton."
Colton confirmed during his GMA interview with Robin Roberts that he hasn't spoken "at all" to his ex-girlfriend, whom he met and fell in love with when his The Bachelor season filmed in late 2018.
In new footage of the GMA interview that aired during the Thursday episode of ABC's Nightline, Colton revealed of Cassie, "I don't know if I ever will get the chance to sit down and talk with her. I would like to."
As far as what he would tell Cassie if given the opportunity, Colton revealed, "I would like to say sorry for how things ended. I messed up. I made a lot of bad choices."
"I made mistakes at the end of that relationship and I ruined the good memories we had by my actions and what I did to hold on to being straight because I didn't want to look myself in the mirror," Colton continued. "So for that, I'm extremely, extremely sorry."
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Colton admitted on GMA that he "came to terms" with being gay earlier this year after running from and hating himself "for a long time."
"I'm emotional, but I'm emotional in, like, such a good, happy, and positive way," Colton shared
"I'm the happiest and healthiest I've ever been in my life. And that means the world to me."
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"I used to wake up in the morning and pray for [God] to take the gay away. I used to pray for him to change me... I tried to force myself to be straight," Colton admitted.
Colton selected Cassie from California as his winner on The Bachelor over Tayshia Adams and Hannah Godwin.
Prior to their surprising decision to part ways in Spring 2020, Colton had publicly discussed wanting to propose marriage to Cassie in the near future, although Cassie had previously insisted on more than one occasion she wasn't ready to get married or settled down yet.
Despite being gay during their near two-year relationship, Colton confirmed he was definitely in love with Cassie, which made acknowledging he's gay and his decision to come out to his family and the public even "harder and more confusing" for him.
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"If I'm being very honest, I loved everything about her and it's hard for me to articulate what my emotions were in going through that relationship with her because I obviously had an internal fight going on," Colton explained.
"I would just say that I'm sorry from the bottom of my heart. I'm sorry for the pain and emotional stress I caused. I wish it wouldn't have happened the way it did."
Colton added, "I wish I would have been courageous enough to fix myself before I broke anybody else."
Colton said he understands why Cassie and his other The Bachelor bachelorettes may be feeling misled.
"Do I regret handling [The Bachelor] the way that I did?' I do. I do think I could've handled it better, I'll say that... I just wish I didn't drag people into my own mess of figuring out who I was," Colton admitted.
He added, "I genuinely mean that. But at the same time, I can say 'sorry' to all of those women and also say 'thank you.' Because without them and without The Bachelor franchise, I don't know if I ever would have come out."
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Prior to starring on The Bachelor, Colton found fame when he competed for Becca Kufrin's heart on The Bachelorette's fourteenth season in 2018.
After making it to Becca's Final 4 bachelors and failing to win her heart, The First Time author went on to appear on Bachelor in Paradise's fourth edition and had a fling with The Bachelor alum Tia Booth.
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About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski
