Colton Underwood Didn’t Give Ex Cassie Randolph A Heads Up About His Bombshell GMA Interview

Updated April 15, 2021: Cassie Randolph is reportedly "still processing" the news about her ex-boyfriend Colton Underwood because he apparently did not inform her that he'd be coming out on national television.A source close the the Bachelor alum claims that Randolph was just as surprised as the rest of the world was by Underwood's big reveal. The story is that the rumoured new Netflix star didn't give her a heads up about his sit-down with Robin Roberts at all."She was not made aware in advance that he was going to be on GMA doing a tell-all,” the source told Us Weekly. “To be honest, she hasn’t really had time to navigate how she feels about it yet.”

As such, Randolph has yet to publicly address the bombshell interview, but Bachelor Nation is no doubt waiting eagerly to hear if she has anything at all to say about the major new development in her ex's life.

On Wednesday, April 14, former Bachelor Colton Underwood sat down with Good Morning America news anchor Robin Roberts to share an important life update. The candid conversation gave Bachelor fans a glimpse into Underwood’s mindset during and after his televised journey, and it also included a tardy but important public apology to his ex-girlfriend, Cassie Randolph.

Underwood appeared on GMA at the top of the morning show to make a announcement about his personal life: he’s gay. And he’s actually known for awhile, long before he ever joined Bachelor Nation and pursued his own love story as the Bachelor on the ABC show’s 23rd season. He says it has taken him some time "figure out" himself, but that he is happier and healthier than ever.

“This year’s been a lot for a lot of people and it’s probably made a lot of people look at themselves in the year and figure out who they are,” Underwood shared with Roberts during the interview. “I’ve ran from myself for a long time, I’ve hated myself for a long time. I’m gay. I came to terms with that earlier this year, and the next step in all of this was sort of letting people know...I’m the happiest and healthiest I’ve ever been in my life. That means the world to me.”

Part of Underwood’s process of accepting himself and seeking happiness was understanding how his internal struggle with his sexuality may have affected the people around him, namely ex-girlfriend Randolph. The pair famously did not get engaged at the end of their time on The Bachelor but seemed content to pursue a long-term relationship. However, things went left in May 2020 when they broke up, and Underwood allegedly resorted to a number of disturbing tactics to keep tabs on Randolph after the split. Last September, just months after their breakup, Randolph was granted a temporary restraining order against her ex-boyfriend, claiming that he'd been harassing her via text, stalking her and her family, and had even placed a tracking device on her car without her knowledge. (The restraining order has since been dropped.)

Almost a year after their breakup, Underwood is finally publicly apologizing to Randolph. According to him, much of his misbehaviour stemmed from his own personal life, and he acknowledges now that his behaviour was wrong.

“I got into a place with my personal life that was dark, and bad, and I can list a bunch of different things, but they’d all be excuses,” explained the Bachelor alum. “I’d like to say sorry for how things ended. I messed up. I made a lot of bad choices....I just wish that I wouldn't have dragged other people into the mess of me figuring myself out."

"I would just say that I’m sorry from the bottom of my heart," Underwood continued earnestly. "I’m sorry for any pain and emotional stress I caused. I wish that it wouldn’t have happened the way that it did. I wish that I had been courageous enough to fix myself before I broke anybody else.”

A belated apology is better than no apology at all, but it's truly unfortunate that it took Underwood so long to own up to his wrongdoings, especially since so much of his relationship with Randolph was public facing. Even if he was struggling privately, there is truly no excuse, like he says himself, for his behaviour at the time. What we know about Underwood's actions towards Randolph seem to include evidence of gaslighting and stalking, and he even allegedly broke the law to keep tracks on her. Unfortunately, his apology on GMA doesn't quite go far enough in terms of accountability for that manipulative and criminal behaviour, and it doesn't erase the trauma that Randolph and her close circle may have experienced at his hands. Saying that he's sorry may be the first step towards healing — for everyone that's involved — but it sadly doesn't change what happened.