celebrity-news” target=”_blank”>Colton Underwood< for “how things ended” in their tumultuous relationship last year.
The former “the-bachelor” target=”_blank”>Bachelor<during an appearance on “Good Morning America” on Wednesday and while speaking with Robin Roberts, the former football star lamented the “bad choices” he had made while dating Randolph, 25, and in the months following the public split.
“I would like to say sorry for how things ended. I messed up,” Underwood said. “I made a lot of bad choices.”
Underwood and Randolph connected during his season of the popular reality show in 2019 and appeared to hit it off so well that Randolph received the coveted final rose from Underwood, though the pair never officially got engaged – instead electing to continue dating after the season came to an end.
‘BACHELOR’ ALUM COLTON UNDERWOOD COMES OUT AS GAY: ‘I’M THE HAPPIEST AND HEALTHIEST I’VE EVER BEEN’
“If I’m being very honest, I loved everything about her,” Underwood told Roberts and explained that the feelings he shared for Randolph “only made it harder and more confusing” for him as he grappled with his own questions about his sexuality.
“And it’s hard for me to articulate exactly what my emotions were going through that relationship with her, because I obviously had an internal fight going on,” he continued. “I would just say 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. I wish that I would have been courageous enough to fix myself before I broke anybody else.”
‘BACHELOR’ STAR COLTON UNDERWOOD SAYS CASSIE RANDOLPH ENDED HER RESTRAINING ORDER AGAINST HIM
Underwood and Randolph’s romance didn’t last long. The former pair announced their split in May 2020 just two months after Randolph had aided in nursing Underwood back to health after he contracted coronavirus.
She noted in July that Underwood’s coronavirus diagnosis and battle “had nothing to do with [their] breakup at all.”
Cassie Randolph and Colton Underwood in happier times. The former pair split in May 2020.
(AP, File)
“I think, if anything, that whole experience of him having COVID-19 and being with my family kind of made us closer even,” she declared at the time.
However, Randolph filed a temporary restraining order against Underwood in October after he allegedly exhibited some unsettling behavior that allegedly began on June 27 and included him placing a tracking device on her car while Randolph was visiting her family in Huntington Beach, Calif.
She further claimed that a family member saw Underwood in the alley outside her bedroom window at 2 a.m. After Underwood was confronted, he was accused of sending harassing text messages to her, according to the family member and a friend of Randolph’s.
In November, Underwood told Fox News that the situation had been resolved amicably between them.
Colton Underwood came out as gay in an interview on Wednesday.
(ABC)
“Today Cassie asked the court to dismiss the temporary restraining order against me. The two of us were able to reach a private agreement to address any of Cassie’s concerns,” he said in a statement. “I do not believe Cassie did anything wrong in filing for the restraining orders and also believe she acted in good faith. I appreciate everyone’s respect for privacy regarding this matter.”
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Underwood also took responsibility for his alleged actions that he says “dragged people” into his “mess.”
“Do I regret being the ‘Bachelor’ and do I regret handling it the way that I did? I do,” Underwood admitted to Roberts. “I do think I could have handled it better.”
“I just wish I wouldn’t have dragged people into my own mess of figuring out who I was,” he pressed. “I genuinely mean that. But also, at the same time that I can sit here and say I’m sorry to all of those women, I can also say thank you, because without them and without the ‘Bachelor’ franchise, I don’t know that this would have ever came out.”
Fox News’ Tyler McCarthy contributed to this report.
