Blindsided by the Bachelor! Caelynn Miller-Keyes was shocked that Colton Underwood sent her packing after hometown dates, but decided to keep Cassie Randolph on the show.
Although Caelynn, 24, and Cassie, 23, formed a close bond while vying for Underwood’s heart, they were both blown away by the former Miss North Carolina’s elimination.
“I was surprised. Cassie and I, the way that we managed our best friendship so well is because we separated our friendship and our relationship,” Caelynn explained to Entertainment Tonight after the Bachelor: Women Tell All special taping in February. “And so, she didn’t really talk that much about her relationship, but she did say that, you know, we both kind of felt that my relationship was a little more further advanced than hers. So I was surprised that I was sent home and not her.”
Although Caelynn left the ABC dating series first, the Southern California native self-eliminated during the Monday, March 4, episode after telling the former NFL player that she wasn’t ready to get engaged.
Meanwhile, the Miss USA runner-up spoke exclusively to Us Weekly in February and revealed that her split from Underwood, 27, was heartbreaking. “I’ve been waiting since he dumped me for Women’s Tell All specifically to get that closure and it’s unfortunate that I didn’t get that,” she explained. “But at the end of the day, if he doesn’t love me, I’m happy he sent me home when he knew that.”
Caelynn added that she would “be hesitant” to be Bachelorette if offered the gig, because of her difficult experience on The Bachelor. “This process sucked for me,” she admitted to Us. “I mean, it was absolute hell for me. … I mean, there were several days where I would go to producers and be like, ‘I’m leaving, I can’t deal with this.’ Because it was hard, it was emotional. It was so incredibly hard for me.”
The Bachelor airs on ABC Mondays at 8 p.m. ET.
