#’The Bachelor’ Star Colton Underwood Apologizes to Cassie Randolph After Backlash

Following The Bachelor‘s Colton Underwood coming out on Good Morning America on April 14, people expressed their frustration over the fact that at no point was his past with Cassie Randolph addressed. That has now changed.

The two met on the ABC dating series and were together for a year and a half. (He didn’t propose at the end of his season). Afterward, however, she got a restraining order against him, which she dropped last year.

Now Underwood has told Variety: “I did not physically touch or physically abuse Cassie in any way, shape or form.”

He insisted: “I never want people to think that I’m coming out to change the narrative, or to brush over and not take responsibility for my actions, and now that I have this gay life that I don’t have to address my past as a straight man.

“Controlling situations to try to grasp at any part of the straight fantasy that I was trying to live out was so wrong.”

Randolph breaking up with him left him in “such a dark place” because he knew it was his last straight relationship, he said.

Underwood didn’t share many details “out of respect to” Randolph but did apologize in his new interview.

“It’s not who I am as a human being, and it’s not how I carry myself,” he said. “If there was anything I could do to take more ownership, I would…I’m sorry, and I want her to know that I hope she has the best, most beautiful life.”

He added that he didn’t plan to talk about her in the future because he didn’t see it as “fair” for her name to keep coming up in articles.

Randolph briefly addressed the situation at the beginning of a video (below) posted to her YouTube Channel on April 22.

“Before I get into anything, I just wanted to say thank you so much for the kind comments and messages from you guys, I really appreciate it,” she said.

“Regarding the topic in the media that brought my name up this week, just want to let you know that I’m not going to be further discussing it or commenting on it for now. There’s a lot of layers to it and I just feel like the best thing for me at this time is to move forward and just focus on going forward,” she said.