Cassie Got Real Honest About Her Relationship With Colton On IG
Relationships aren't always glossy and perfect, even if the love stories behind them or the people in them appear to be. Relationships take hard work and dedication, and Cassie Randolph’s Instagram post about her relationship with Colton Underwood is all about this message. On Sept. 26, she shared a cute mirror selfie of her and Colton, recalling how excited she had been to post it after their season finale, when they could finally make their relationship public. But, she also used the opportunity to address floating rumors about their relationship with several screenshots of a statement she wrote.
In her text posts, she starts by acknowledging that the past year has been "nothing short of amazing and life-changing." Still, it's brought forth a lot of change, which isn't always easy. And with her Insta inbox filling up with DMs about circulating rumors, she said she felt now was the time to set the record straight. She went on to say that, yes, she knew being in the public eye meant intense scrutiny of her life would just "come with the territory." But, she added:
While it's an extra hurdle at times, I try to keep it in perspective. Colton and I are very happy and our relationship is in a good place. Is our relationship perfect? No, it is very normal with its ups and downs and compromises.
Cassie continued:
Despite the microscope on our relationship, we are trying to stay focused on what is important and grow in the direction of getting stronger and closer every day. We know that in order for us to work, we need to focus on each other (and not the craziness that sometimes surrounds us) and stay grounded.
While there's only a small population of the world that will ever be on The Bachelor, Cassie's advice is solid and super relatable. You might not have to deal with paparazzi or a "source" spilling tea on your life to a major publication, but chances are, people might have their own opinions about your relationship. Friends and family can start drama. Maybe you'll feel pressure from societal expectations to reach certain milestones. Whatever the case is, Cassie's advice to focus, grow, build intimacy, and stay grounded is something anyone can apply to their partnership.
Still, she went on to write about the distinct challenges of being in a post-Bachelor relationship — what she calls the "set of added issues to manage." She wrote:
Our every move together is analyzed and every word is dissected. At times, it can feel like our relationship status isn't just a matter of our own happiness, but other people's happiness, too. Strangers (most well-meaning, thank you!) are so wrapped up in our relationship's success or failure that this can create an unhealthy pressure, and at times it's caused me to question the reliability of my own feelings. This adds stress not only to us, but those close to us, too, as they just want us to be happy.
As Cassie pointed out in her post, yes, The Bachelor is supposed to end in an engagement. But when couples take their relationship off "TV land" and IRL, it gets real. In her post, Cassie was super honest, acknowledging again that she knows this comes with the Bachelor Nation territory. "But often in life, we don't know how we will respond or feel in situation until we are actually in it," she wrote.
Cassie's Instagram post also gets to the heart of what the couple has said in the past about being feeling pressure because of the public nature of their relationship. Back in Aug. 2019, former Bachelorette Hannah Brown posted on Instagram about how different her life had been since the show ended. She confessed how much she misses her family and friends, and how she feels guilty for not having the emotional capacity to catch them up on her life. Hannah put it quite frankly, saying, "I can’t keep up with the people who matter most, because I can barely keep up with my own life right now." She continued:
I have so many blessings to be thankful for. However, it’s uncharted territory for me, and it’s been hard to really process what the heck is going on. Maybe I needed to write this out to remind myself I’m human and it’s okay to be overwhelmed. And maybe, I just needed to remind you guys, too.
Apart from leaving a sweet comment on Hannah's post, Colton told Elite Daily in Sept. 2019 that her words really resonated with both him and Cassie. "I read her statement, and Cass and I looked at each other and were like, ‘This is exactly what we’ve been, like, trying to articulate for the last month,'" Colton said. "It's not easy on us. It's not easy on our families."
As Cassie said herself, "TLDR: Public relationships have challenges. Colton and I are good and happy." But an even better takeaway is that instead of worrying about these challenges, it might be better to embrace the ups and downs and compromises, Bachelor contestant or not.
