The Bachelor alum Cassie Randolph was reportedly blindsided about Colton Underwood's announcement on Good Morning America he is gay.
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Cassie, 25, who dated Colton for 18 months after they met on The Bachelor's 23rd season, was "not made aware" Colton would be coming out as gay on the Wednesday episode of Good Morning America, Us Weekly reported.
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According to a source, Cassie is "still processing" the news.
"She was not made aware in advance that he was going to be on GMA doing a tell-all," the source told Us.
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"To be honest, she hasn't really had time to navigate how she feels about it yet."
Colton and Cassie's May 2020 split started off as amicable but became nasty and messy when the pair had an online 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.
"Post-breakup was an emotional journey for her and it was painful at times," the source said of Cassie.
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"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 also 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 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."
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As far as what he would tell Cassie if given the opportunity, Colton explained, "I would like to say sorry for how things ended. I messed up. I made a lot of bad choices."
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"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."
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."
Colton said he knew he was "different" at age six and realized for certain that he liked men in high school.
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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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Colton -- who faced rumors he was gay while his The Bachelor season was airing -- said he's now "proud to be gay" and looking forward to meeting a male partner who can challenge him in new ways.
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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