Gabby Windey opened up that she’s been in a relationship with a woman “for a few months” during an appearance on The View on Wednesday, August 2. The Bachelorette alum, 32, made the reveal after over a year after she split up from her fiancé Erich Schewer in November 2022. “I always want to live my truth and my story. So, I have been seeing someone for a couple months, and I’ve been keeping it a little more private, because it is a bigger story and a bigger conversation, cause I’m dating a girl,” she told The View hosts.
After the interview, Gabby shared a series of photos with her girlfriend, comedian Robby Hoffman, on her Instagram. “Told you, I’m a girls girl,” she wrote. She also posted an Instagram Story to make the announcement and shared a photo of her and Robby kissing.
Gabby admitted that she came to the realization that she wanted to date a woman, after finishing a busy few years between The Bachelorette and Dancing With The Stars. She revealed she had to work through some difficult feelings. “I think it was always a whisper in me that just got louder and louder, and I didn’t really know to pay attention to it. I think when this happens, there’s some shame obviously surrounding it. I think I had to a little bit navigate through the shame: what is it? Where is it coming from? But, ultimately, I always want to just do me, do what I want, figure it out later,” she said.
When asked about how she felt about sharing her exciting news, Gabby said she felt like there was a “weight lifted” by coming out, and she was happy to share the news with all of her fans. “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 owe me,” she explained. “I want them to hear it come from my mouth.”
Joy Behar asked Gabby whether she’d be dating women going forward, and she sweetly admitted that she thinks her girlfriend may be the one. “I think it’s just my girl,” she said. “She’s so special. She makes me feel so safe, so loved, a love that I always wanted going on these dating shows.”
A former Denver Broncos cheerleader, Gabby made her debut in The Bachelor franchise in season 26, where she was a co-runner-up when Clayton Echard was the Bachelor. She returned for season 19 of The Bachelorette as a co-lead, where she got engaged to Erich, who she admitted didn’t know that she was now dating a woman. She and Erich broke up less than 2 months after getting engaged.