Another former Bachelor Nation star has found love outside of the reality dating format. Gabby Windey, one of the two leads of The Bachelorette Season 19 and runner-up on Dancing with the Stars Season 31, surprised fans by coming out on The View. On August 2, the former Denver Broncos cheerleader revealed that she’d been privately seeing someone new for the past couple of months, telling the co-hosts: “I’m dating a girl.” The excitement she showed after speaking her truth was matched by her former co-stars, as Bachelor Nation alums and DWTS stars took to social media to celebrate with Windey.
After her big moment on The View, Gabby Windey posted several photos on Instagram introducing writer and comedian Robby Hoffman as her new girlfriend, and the couple looked super happy, hugging, kissing and enjoying some fun in the sun together. Check the pics out for yourself:
Bachelor Nation was quick to rally in support of the funny former lead, with everyone from the current star of The Bachelorette Charity Lawson to Gabby Windey’s Season 19 co-lead Rachel Recchia showing love for the new couple. Former Bachelor cast member Becca Tilley — who came out in 2022 — and her partner Hayley Kiyoko also shared in the excitement. Here’s what they all had to say:
- Charity Lawson: LOVEEE!!! so happy for you gabby 💓
- Rachel Recchia: love you with my entire heart and soul 🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍
- Ben Higgins: Well son of a biscuit this is real beautiful. Congrats gabby
- Demi Burnett: Hot
- Becca Tilley: We love a girls girl 🥰❤️
- Hayley Kiyoko: Summer’s for the girls
- Mike Johnson: love is truly in the air 😍
- Kaitlyn Bristowe: Needed this love story!!
- Serena Pitt: Cuties!!
- Rachael Kirkconnell: so happy you’re happy ❤️❤️
- Kaity Biggar: 🌈💞💜love this !! so happy to see you happy 😊
- Genevieve Parisi: So freaking happy for you Gab, you deserve this type of love
- Nate Mitchell: 🤍 love to see it 🙌🏽
We love to see the overwhelming amount of love for Gabby Windey, but it wasn’t just coming from Bachelor Nation. Vinny Guadagnino, who was often rumored to be involved with the reality TV star when they both competed on Dancing with the Stars last year, also weighed in on the news, telling Us Weekly that Windey had been so stressed out while they were on tour, so he was glad to see her in such a good place now. In the Jersey Shore star’s words:
After seeing this today I’m so happy to see her be happy and live her truth and to see her face again.
But he wasn’t the only one from DWTS who wanted in on the celebration. Other celebrities and dancing experts also flooded the comments section of Gabby Windey’s post, writing:
- Selma Blair: I love this. ❤️
- Alan Bersten: I’m so fricken proud of you. And happy for you!!!!!!
- Peta Murgatroyd: ❤️❤️❤️
- Shangela: I love to see you happy and feeling free, my sister ❤️🌈🤗 congrats
- Jenna Johnson: Omgggg 💘💘💘
- Sasha Farber: ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
Gabby Windey got engaged to Erich Schwer at the end of her season of The Bachelorette, after initially being one of the participants in Clayton Echard’s “Rose Ceremony From Hell” on The Bachelor. However, their relationship ended less than two months after their proposal aired on the season finale.
In talking about her reasons for coming out, the former Bachelorette described her feelings on The View as “a whisper in me that just got louder and louder.” She continued:
I just want to be honest, I don’t want to live and not be living my full truth. I don’t want to do that to myself. I don’t want to do it to my girlfriend. I don’t want to do it to other people who really care about me and feel like they know me.
Our congratulations go out to Gabby Windey and Robby Hoffman! If you want to see more Bachelor Nation love, tune in to The Bachelorette to watch the remainder of Charity Lawson’s journey, with new episodes at 8 p.m. ET Mondays on ABC.
