Cass Wood: "I had my heart broken twice on TV but I have a boyfriend now and I’m super happy."

Bachelor in Paradise star Cassandra Wood is not shy about having had her heart broken twice for all of Australia to see, because to her all the reality TV turmoil was worth it in the end.

During her stint on Bachelor in Paradise Cass grew very close to former The Bachelor star Richie Strahan and of course, was left appropriately shocked when, after having had long talks about the future of their relationship, he decided to leave Paradise and her along with it.

Deciding that there was no point sticking around when the only man she’d felt a connection with had walked away, Cass also decided that staying on the island was not an option for her and walked away from the reality TV series in Sunday night’s episode.

“Richie and I were one of the most solid couples in Paradise and we were hanging out from the get-go,” Cass told Mamamia. “It started to get more serious and we were having more conversations about how it would work in the real world and he led me to believe it would work and we would work around the distance.

“But then we went into the cocktail party and he pulled me aside and said he doesn’t think the distance will work and he wants to leave Paradise. I felt blindsided by that because he had just changed his mind from what we were talking about earlier on. So he leaves and I decide there is no point being here so I leave as well.

“Alex Nation said to me that he has his own issues that he needs to sort out and that he came there to heal. I mean, I do believe that he wants to find someone. I think he was more scared of hurting me and just didn’t believe that this could work. He had done the long distance thing before with Alex and that didn’t really work out. He wanted to find someone, but he also didn’t want to hurt anyone.”

Despite the emotional end to their short-lived island romance, Cass said she has spoken to Richie since leaving Paradise because he wanted to make sure that she was okay after they both left the series.

“We have spoken a couple of times on the phone, right after we got back to Australia. We were just clearing the air and he was making sure I was all right and I was making sure he was okay but that’s about it,” Cass said. “I was so confused the night it happened because I wasn’t expecting that. So I came into the cocktail party pretty upset.

“My good friends Nathan and Davey were there and they were shocked and pretty angry. No one saw it coming. They were all asking me what I was going to do and I knew the commitment ceremony was coming up and I just didn’t want to be there anymore. I had no connection to anyone else. I decided to leave and I think everyone was upset about that.

“I know other people are more physical on the show, but Richie and I took things at a very slow and natural pace. But unfortunately, it didn’t work out in the end.”

“Since leaving Paradise I’ve found someone, I have a boyfriend now and I’m super happy,” she told Mamamia. “I had my heart broken twice on national TV but now I want people to know that I am super happy and it’s all worth it.

“I’ve known him for a couple of years and we dated a little bit in 2015. We just met through ruby and being on the Northern Beaches because he’s a rugby player. But that relationship fizzled out because we were both quite young and not ready for a relationship. But when I came back from Paradise he came back into my life and it’s been amazing ever since.

“I believe everything happens for a reason and being on those TV shows really made me grow as a person and realise what I wanted. They made me realise my self-worth, so it was all worth it in the end.”