The ‘Bachelor’ Colton Underwood Reveals Cassie Randolph Was Reason Behind the Shocking Breakups

The first part of The Bachelor‘s season finale aired on Monday, March 11, during which Colton Underwood returned to the show after literally jumping a fence last week and ultimately decided to end things with the two remaining contestants, Tayshia Adams and Hannah Godwin.

The breakups came after Underwood himself was left by the third of his final three women, Cassie Randolph, who realized during last week’s episode that she wasn’t sure could get to the same place Underwood was in when it came to their relationship. While she broke up with him, Underwood told her that she was the woman he thought about when he was on other dates, promising to do whatever it took to get her back.

As a result, he broke off his relationships with Adams and Godwin, telling PEOPLE that he knew there was no going forward with the other women after Randolph left.

“Once I had the conversation with Cassie, my mind was made up,” he said. “I was either going to leave by myself, or I was leaving with her.”

While he was ultimately ready to end the show after the tearful split with Randolph, Underwood was cajoled back over the fence and decided that he needed to break up with the other women face-to-face.

“I had to do what was right, and what was best for them, and that was to have that tough conversation,” the 26-year-old said, adding that “the game was changed in a way.”

“I knew I could walk away heartbroken,” Underwood continued. “But I had to fight for Cassie.”

It was clear that Randolph’s departure affected Underwood tremendously, due to the fact that he literally jumped a fence afterwards, an event show host Chris Harrison described as “a gazelle being chased by a cheetah.”

“It was like a gazelle being chased by a cheetah, and in this case, I would have been the cheetah chasing Colton, and he leapt that fence and was gone,” he told Entertainment Tonight. “Colton, he was done. He was done with this moment and ready to get away, and he took this fence.”

“The one thing I love about this show in this day and age is it’s very raw, very organic. We don’t have to go back and edit a lot. You’re going to see it all, warts and all, and it’s not pretty,” the host reflected. “It’s not pretty for the producers, it’s not pretty for him. We all kind of look bad in certain parts of this. But I think to be honest, and our fans are savvy enough, you gotta see that. You’re going to want to see that.”

Part 2 of the finale airs Tuesday, March 12 at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.

Photo Credit: Getty / Rich Fury