“Bachelorette” Star Gabby Windey Comes Out as a Girl’s Girl With a Gay Girlfriend

Compulsory heterosexuality was dealt another well-deserved blow today as the queer community learned that Gabby Windey, noted alum of both the The Bachelor and The Bachelorette, had announced on The View that she is in fact currently dating a woman and having a really fantastic time doing so. Gabby Windey then followed up her daytime television experience by hard launching her lesbian relationship with Robby Hoffman on Instagram:

According to reality television expert Kayla Kumari Upadhyaya, “I’m a girl’s girl,” the caption to Gabby’s Big Gay Reveal post, “is indeed something women say on reality TV all the time.” Gabby’s  post received support from Lesbian Jesus Hayley Kiyoko (“Summer’s for the girls”) and Hayley’s girlfriend, former Bachelor contestant Becca Tilley (“we love a girl’s girl!”).

Windey, who recently came in second place on Dancing With The Stars, told the ladies of the View:

“I’ve had such an amazing experience with my time on Bachelor and Bachelorette dating all those men. That’s how people know me. 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 because I’m dating a girl.”

She further elaborated that her sexual fluidity was “always a whisper in me that got louder and louder.” Windey shared that she’d initially felt some shame around realizing that she was into girls, but that she’s worked through that discomfort and is eager to live her truth! Including that her girlfriend is amazing and “the best.”

Who is Gabby Windey?

ICU Nurse and former Denver Broncos Cheerleader Gabby Windey first appeared in the heterosexual multiverse of The Bachelor in Season 26, competing for the love of a former tight end named Clayton. Gabby quickly became a fan favorite for her “goofy” personality and for having received the Pop Warner Humanitarian Award for her frontline work as a medical professional during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Gabby made it to the final round of The Bachelor with fellow contestant Rachel Recchia, but Clayton rejected both Gabby and Rachel in favor of an adult woman named Susie. In the finale reunion event, Gabby informed Clayton that he was “ridiculous” and also that she could not believe one word he said!

Gabby and Rachel then appeared on the first season of The Bachelorette to have two female contestants being actively courted by a plethora of allegedly eligible bachelors. The advertising for this season attracted some attention for its blatant homoeroticism:

The Bachelorette promo poster

The season concluded with Gabby accepting a marriage proposal from Erich Schwer in September of 2022. By most accounts it seems as though Erich really sucks.

By November 2022, the two had called it quits and Gabby was competing on Dancing With the Stars.

Who is Gabby Windey’s Girlfriend, Robby Hoffman?

Gabby’s girlfriend is Robby Hoffman, an American-Canadian television writer and comic who has written for shows like The Baroness Von Sketch Show and Workin’ Moms. She grew up in a Hasidic community, identifies as queer, and just yesterday launched a podcast called “Too Far” with Rachel Kaly. She’s toured as a comic all over this continent, starred in episodes of The Chris Gethard Show, and hosted a call-in advice show on Gethard’s comedy network Planet Scum Live.

In 2020, Vulture described her as “a bit of a beast — a small, Jewish, Canadian American, lesbian beast.”

Who Else From The Bachelor and The Bachelorette is a Lesbian or Bisexual?

In 2011, Bachelor and Bachelor Pad contestant Krisily Kennedy came out as bisexual.

In 2016, two women competing in The Bachelor: Australia, Megan Marx and Tiffany Scanlon, began dating each other. At the time, our writer Erin Sullivan noted, “ladies, if you can find love in a room full of cameras and women with eyes who want something from your soul trying to get a read on each other while mainlining booze, you absolutely deserve the love you’ve found.”

As aforementioned, former Bachelor contestant Becca Tilley revealed in 2022 that she’d been dating Hayley Kiyoko for four years.

Elizabeth Corrigan, who appeared with Gabby Windey on Season 26 of The Bachelor, came out as bisexual in June of 2022.

Other queer Bachelorverse contestants include Alexa Caves, Jaimi King, Bekah Purifoy, Demi Burnett, Kaitlyn Bristowe, Melissa Schreiber and Jasmine Goode. I do not know who any of these people are but I am happy for them just the same!

In conclusion, Mazel Tov to Gabby and Robby!

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Riese

Riese is the 43-year-old Co-Founder of Autostraddle.com as well as an award-winning writer, video-maker, LGBTQ+ Marketing consultant and aspiring cyber-performance artist who grew up in Michigan, lost her mind in New York and now lives in Los Angeles. Her work has appeared in nine books, magazines including Marie Claire and Curve, and all over the web including Nylon, Queerty, Nerve, Bitch, Emily Books and Jezebel. She had a very popular personal blog once upon a time, and then she recapped The L Word, and then she had the idea to make this place, and now here we all are! In 2016, she was nominated for a GLAAD Award for Outstanding Digital Journalism. She's Jewish and has a cute dog named Carol. Follow her on twitter and instagram.

Riese has written 3266 articles for us.

5 Comments

  1. Don’t forget Brooke Blurton! The Bachelorette Aus season 7 had a bi lead and featured contestants to match. There’s even an episode where Brooke and Jamie-Lee broke the world record for longest on screen kiss on a date. Had it’s ups and downs, but Brooke comes off as a lovely as a badass young lady.

    Also thought my gaydar was soo broken when it came to Gabby… should have believed in myself 😝

  2. And Minh Thu and Truc Nhu from The Bachelor Vietnam? I’ve never seen an episode of The Bachelor but randomly encountered the video recently of the ceremony where Minh Thu ditches the guy to declare her love to Nhu and its like a romance novel come to life, can strongly recommend.

  3. I just barely heard about the Gabby Windey news from Bre Williamson on her insta (not having watched recent seasons of The Bachelorette), so that’s pretty cool news!

    But I also came to the comments to mention Brooke Blurton- a lovely bisexual, aboriginal woman who had a season on The Bachelorette Australia! And two women contestants from her season also got together after the show, Holly and Millie!

    The Bachelorette to Queer pipeline is a surprising path, but we love to see it haha! <3

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