Colton Underwood's breakup from Cassie Randolph taught him a lot about what he wants and needs in a relationship. The former Bachelor took to Instagram on Thursday to open up about his and Randolph's split and the "clarity" he's gained since.
"These last few weeks have been challenging because, by now, you all know I’m an open book and I enjoy sharing my life with y’all," Underwood began. "When our relationship ended we agreed to handle things as privately as possible as we attempted to navigate our new relationship as friends. I chose to do that since we were living in this interim period, but obviously a lot changed this week."
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"Every experience provides us with an opportunity for growth. If you’ve been kind enough to have followed our story you’ve been with us through all of the ups and downs which have taught me so many lessons," Underwood continued. "I’ve come to realize when you’re in the thick of it you just need to take a step back and look at things from a different perspective, in doing so I have gained so much clarity about what I want and more importantly what I need in a relationship."
The former football player concluded, "I’m so excited for this next chapter of my life with new stories and new people. I can’t thank y’all enough for your understanding and your support during this time. Your messages mean a lot!"
Randolph and Underwood split in May, after a year and a half of dating. She spoke out about their breakup for the first time on Monday's episode of The Bachelor: The Greatest Seasons -- Ever!, but kept details to a minimum.
"It was really good. We honestly had a really great relationship the entire time and we got along really well," Randolph reflected, adding that the end of their romance is "kind of a sensitive subject" because she felt they are "still kind of going through it, and it's still pretty emotional for both of us."
Randolph also spoke out on Instagram after her appearance on The Bachelor: The Greatest Seasons -- Ever! aired. She clapped back at fans slamming her for allegedly not being respectful of Underwood by doing the interview.
"So I'm a little irritated about a few things right now," Randolph began. "Just watched the Bachelor interview that they aired and I feel like I'm speaking to no one when... I've said this a million times, you guys cannot judge something that you know is edited and know nothing about."
"In fact, I went on there telling them that I didn't want to talk about it and I wouldn't talk about it," she continued, listing her new tattoo and school as other topics she discussed with Chris Harrison during the interview. "Believe it or not, there's so much more to me than just my past relationship, and I think that's why I'm annoyed."
Randolph said she was shocked by "how people can make assumptions on things they know nothing about."
"Let me just give you case and point here, so I've been getting nasty messages from people saying, 'How rude of you, how disrespectful of you to go and talk about your relationship and give so many details with Colton not being there, like, you terrible person.' When, if you watch the interview, I said absolutely nothing. Like, absolutely nothing," she added.
"That's not what it's about, that's not what it was supposed to be about," Randolph concluded. "Just a reminder to not to draw conclusions on someone or something that you know nothing about."
See more in the video below.
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