Gabby Windey did not find love on this past season of The Bachelor.
But she did find her voice. And her strength. And a legion of fans.
And now? As a result?
Gabby Windey will be one of your next Bachelorettes!
On Tuesday night, Gabby was featured on ABC's After the Final Rose special, at first confronting Clayton Echard for the way he treated her toward the end of his run as The Bachelor.
The Missouri native told Gabby he loved her... and then slept with her in a Fantasy Suite... and then dumped both her and Rachel after he learned that he still had a chance with Susie Evans.
“I don't have the same needs as Susie. I'm not Susie, and neither is Rachel,” Gabby told Clayton on Tuesday evening, months after filming concluded.
“So you have to treat us as individuals.”
On the After the Final Rose special, she added:
“Watching it back, everything is so muddled, and you are clearly pitting us against each other.
"It really seems like a competition, which I had expressed to you that I didn't want to be a part of.”
Gabby earned a round of applause from audience members after telling Clayton off, and then it was announced that she AND Rachel will be co-Bachelorettes this summer.
Said the network in a press release at the time:
"After unwaveringly supporting each other through a devastating dual breakup in the season 26 finale of The Bachelor, fan favorites and fierce women Gabby Windey and Rachel Recchia will stand by each other's side yet again as they set out on a journey to find love."
Sounds... interesting, doesn't it?
It also raises the question: Just who is Gabby Windey?!?
Windey is 31 years old.
She worked as a cheerleader for the NFL's Denver Broncos, but she also put her nurse training to use during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.
During the pandemic, Windey worked 12 hours a day or more at various hospitals, even winning the 2020 Pop Warner Humanitarian Award as a result.
This distinction is typically only earned by actual football players.
Referring to Gabby and her fellow recipient, lineman Laurent Duvernay-Tardif, an NFL statement put out by Pop Warner Little Scholars just under two years ago read as follows:
“Windey and Duvarney-Tardif's selflessness and commitment to helping others are an embodiment of sacrifice and teamwork, making them model representatives for young student-athletes across the nation."
Elsewhere, Windey dated former Bachelor contestant Dean Unglert, who appeared on season 13 of The Bachelorette.
They were only 19 years old at the time of their romance, but Unglert has said Gabby was the "second love of his life."
As for some fun Gabby Windey facts?
- She is terrified of humpback whales, but would love to see one in person from a safe distance.
- Gabby loves to write cards.
- Stomping grapes in Italy is at the top of Gabby’s bucket list.
Gabby and Rachel will debut as The Bachelorettes on July 11 at 8/7c.
We can't wait!