Season 19 of The Bachelorette comes to an end with a three-hour finale on Sept. 20, but one day prior, one of the season’s two leads, Gabby Windey, is beginning another journey! The 31-year-old is a contestant on season 31 of Dancing With the Stars, which will be streaming on Disney Plus. Gabby is partnered with Val Chmerkovskiy on the dance journey. Their partnership was announced on Sept. 8.
It’s been a whirlwind season on The Bachelorette for Gabby, who starred on the show alongside her bestie, Rachel Recchia. Gabby ended two relationships during fantasy suite week (Johnny DePhillipo and Jason Alabaster), leaving her with just Erich Schwer left. The two said “I love you” to each other, but the show’s Sept. 13 episode ended with Erich admitting that he was unsure if he was ready to get engaged.
Ahead of the end of Gabby’s Bachelorette journey and beginning of her DWTS journey, learn more about her below!
1. Gabby was an NFL cheerleader.
Gabby was a cheerleader for the Denver Broncos from the 2016 season until the 2020 season. She received the Pop Warner Humanitarian Award in 2021. She became the first woman to earn the honor, which is generally given to NFL players. Gabby’s work as a nurse solidified her as a “model representative for young student-athletes across the nation,” according to the organization.
2. Gabby has dated 3 other men from Bachelor Nation.
Other than Clayton, who broke Gabby’s heart during The Bachelor season 26, Gabby has had a close connection with other Bachelor Nation stars. In college, Gabby dated Dean Unglert from Rachel Lindsay’s season of The Bachelorette. “She was, like, one of my main exes,” Dean confirmed in Oct. 2021. “She was my girlfriend from college. Producers called me and were like, ‘Hey, we’re thinking of casting this person, what do you think of her? We know you dated ten years go.’ And I was like, ‘Oh, she’s great. If she gets selected for the show, she’ll either win the show or she’ll be the next Bachelorette.’ I firmly believe that.”
Another one of Gabby’s exes is Blake Horstmann from Becca Kufrin’s season. The pair dated for a few months, according to Blake, who went public with the news in October 2021. “Gabby was a good friend of one of my very good friends from college. They were roommates,” he explained. “I met Gabby long before I was on The Bachelorette. I want to say maybe 2015 or 2016. We hung out for a little bit, so I know her very well.”
However, in January 2022, Gabby clarified that she knew Blake, but said that they never dated. “We never actually went on a date,” Gabby claimed. “There was no drinks paid for. No dinner paid for. He’s definitely friends of friends, you know, we had spent time together and stuff, but no, like, official dating. No really kind of formal, no exclusivity, and again, it was a really long time ago.”
3. Gabby is a nurse.
Gabby works as an ICU nurse. She is employed at the University of Colorado Hospital. She was on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic. “We’re all leaning on each other and it really becomes a new normal kind of fast,” she admitted in 2020. “All of healthcare is ever-changing because we’re always trying to make sure we’re doing things the best way, which comes with evidence-based practice and re-evaluating the way we’re doing things. So we are used to change, but it’s hard, and of course, it’s different because of the seriousness of it and how many people it’s affecting.”
4. Gabby is from Illinois.
Gabby was born in O’Fallon, Illinois. She has an older sister named Jazz. During her time on The Bachelor, Gabby revealed that she isn’t close to her mom. “As kids, she was really physically affectionate, and then she would, like, flip and kind of withhold her love,” Gabby said. “I was just like, ‘If my mom could stop loving me, why can’t anyone else?'” Gabby has been open about her strained relationship with her mother on The Bachelorette, as well.
Gabby is very close to her dad, who took part in her hometown date on The Bachelor in a unique way. Her dad’s girlfriend had been diagnosed with cancer before filming, so he didn’t want to risk exposing her to COVID-19 by directly participating. Her dad was able to be a part of the hometown date from a distance, though, holding up Love Actually-esque cue cards.
5. Gabby is a dog mom.
Gabby is the proud mom of a Goldendoodle dog named Leonardo. She says that it’s “non-negotiable” that her future partner is on-board with Leonardo because they are a “package deal.”