The Bachelor Australia: Cass Wood breaks her silence after Nick Cummins sends her home in shock elimination

Thursday night's episode of The Bachelor was packed with emotional moments, with Nick Cummins visiting the hometowns of his final four ladies -- Brooke Blurton, Brittany Hockley, Sophie Tieman and Cass Wood -- to meet their families. But the dramatic send-off of fan favourite Cass really drove it home.

Cass, who early on had been dubbed as a "stage-five clinger" because she told the other contestants she knew Nick before coming on the show -- as they both live on the northern beaches -- something Nick appeared to downplay throughout. On Thursday's episode, though, it briefly appeared Cass could finally lift that burden after being confronted by Brittany Hockley and revealing the truth about her "fling" with Nick.

But in the end, at the Rose Ceremony, Cass, completely crushed, was left empty handed as Nick admitted that their relationship had "hit a ceiling."

Following her shock departure, the 23-year-old took to Instagram to speak her peace about Nick, "the one that got away."

"I honestly had no idea who the bachelor was going to be, and to be completely honest I was over the moon when I rocked up and found out it was Nick," Cass began.

"He was always to me, 'the one that got away' in the real world. I was always too scared to tell him how I truely [sic] felt, and unfortunately it fizzled out due to poor timing. Seeing him there on the red carpet, we immediately picked things up from where we left off."

"In this unnatural environment, I was glad I had him as a little bit of comfort," she continued. "I was able to see our connection grow and finally tell him how I felt. Unfortunately by the end, he felt we had hit 'a ceiling.' At the end of the day, it is what it is, and I completely respect his decision."

She concluded, "I have no regrets and even though the experience was extremely hard, at least I was able to walk away with closure."

In a separate post, she defended Brittany's decision to confront her over her past with Nick. "I completely understand why Brittany approached the situation. There are absolutely no hard feelings towards her. She was my rock throughout this whole journey (along with Soph) and I honestly couldn't of done it without them."

"And if I could've told the girls the truth earlier without hurting them than I would've, but it wasn't a gamble I was willing to take," she said, adding that her bond with both Sophie and Brittany "will never be broken."