The Bachelor star Colton Underwood is opening up about why he eliminated Caelynn Miller-Keyes after the women's round of hometown dates.

Many The Bachelor viewers were shocked to see Colton oust Caelynn from the competition considering she was the only one of Colton's final four bachelorettes to tell him that she was "in love," not just "falling in love" with him.

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In addition, Cassie Randolph had yet to even express her feelings of love for Colton at all, other than saying she saw potential for a future together.

So why did Colton keep Cassie over the pageant queen from North Carolina, who seemed devastated by the breakup?

"I don't think that's a fair question to ask. I think you can ask why [Hannah Godwin], why [Tayshia Adams] and why Cassie over Caelynn," Colton told Entertainment Tonight during an interview at The Bachelor: The Women Tell All taping.

"One thing that I wish I could have articulated more to Caelynn tonight: it was nothing [about] where our relationship was. It was where the others were."

Colton elaborated, "That was the one thing, and as I said earlier, that was the hardest Rose Ceremony that I had all season."

As for why he felt compelled to give Cassie a rose despite her reluctance to verbalize her feelings for him, Colton admitted he wasn't making decisions based on logic.

"That's one thing that I think people need to realize is when you're in the relationship, you have to follow your heart and trust your gut as much as possible," Colton explained.

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"It's really easy for people to see the outside, but the feeling and the connection and the chemistry is something that's undeniable. You just have to follow your heart with it."

The Bachelor's next Season 23 episode airs on Monday at 8PM ET/PT, followed by The Women Tell All special on Tuesday at 8PM ET/PT on ABC.

The next episode will feature Colton choosing whether to take advantage of an overnight Fantasy Suite date with Cassie, Hannah G. and Tayshia.

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