Gabby Windey and Erich Schwer have called it quits less than two months after they announced their engagement during The Bachelorette finale on Sept. 20. An insider for E! News confirmed the split. An additional source told the outlet that they split earlier this week, with Gabby initiating the breakup. “She felt they weren’t aligned and weren’t on the same page,” they said. “Gabby was hoping they could give each other space and work it out but ultimately decided they didn’t have a future.”
The split announcement came amid whispers of troubles in paradise, especially after Gabby, 31, hinted that she and Erich, 29, were taking some time apart during an Oct. 31 interview with Fox News. “Life is just really busy for the both of us right now,” she noted after being seen without her engagement ring two weeks in a row on Dancing with the Stars. “So I understand their concern but we’re just kind of, you know, going forward with each of our individual interests and supporting each other from afar.”
Erich was not in the show’s audience that night, although he was seen supporting the former Bachelorette earlier in the season. He did, however, post on his Instagram Story to cheer her on. Just before Season 31 of Dancing with the Stars commenced, Gabby revealed to HollywoodLife EXCLUSIVELY that “supportive” Erich planned to “come to as many performances as he can.” She added, “He knows how much this means to me and it is a lot right now, but it’s temporary. It’s just one more thing. It’s nice that we actually get to be public and not sneak around, so that makes it easier now.”
She gushed about Erich as recently as Oct. 24 to HollywoodLife, when she revealed how her fiancé reacted to steamy dances between her and her pro partner Val Chmerkovskiy. “Erich’s really supportive. I think it’s a learning curve for all of us,” she raved in a chat with the press. “We’ve never been in this arena before, but it was great having Jenna [Johnson] to come into the rehearsal space and teach me and get to learn from her. Erich has been so supportive. He understands this is a performance and we have a goal.”
As fans know, Erich was Gabby’s final man on Season 26 of The Bachelorette. While she knew she was ready to sign up for a lifelong partnership with Erich, he wasn’t so sure about the commitment. However, after much thought, he got down on one knee and asked her to be his bride.
Erich and Gabby are not the only Bachelor Nation couple to end their romance as of late. Clayton Echard and Susie Evans broke up in September after meeting on Season 26 of The Bachelorette, in which Susie served as a co-Bachelorette with Gabby. The pair didn’t leave as a couple on the show, but reunited by the time the After the Final Rose special aired. Plus, Bachelor Season 22 alums Jacqueline Trumbull and Paul Seli called off their engagement over the summer just two weeks before they were scheduled to walk down the aisle.