This profile is part of Queerty’s 2023 Out For Good series, recognizing public figures who’ve had the courage to come out and make a difference in the past year.
Name: Gabby Windey, 32.
Bio: Windey found herself in the spotlight while competing for a diamond on reality TV, but this headstrong Illinois native has always been a gem.
Before joining The Bachelor in 2021, she split her time between the ICU ward and football field, working as both a nurse and Denver Broncos cheerleader.
She even made history (no big deal) when she became the first female and first NFL cheerleader ever to receive the Pop Warner Humanitarian Award in appreciation of her work during the COVID pandemic.
In search of a counterpart, Windey appeared on the 26th season of The Bachelor, joining 29 other ladies vying for the heart of Clayton Echard. Though she didn’t score the final rose, her down-to-earth personality did snag her a co-leading role on the subsequent season of The Bachelorette in May 2022. Despite choosing Erich Schwer as the winner, their engagement was short lived. Still, Windey walked away with America’s hearts.
Thankfully, she found a lot of “therapeutic resolve” after getting cast on Dancing with the Stars that November. Though she placed second behind TikTok star Charli D’Amelio, the experience helped Windey connect with herself, and what she wanted.
Coming Out: With three reality shows under her belt, Windey knew what it felt like to have producers telling her story. That’s why she booked an appearance on The View last August, and began a new chapter…in her own words.
After being asked for a dating update, Windey took a breath.
“I have been seeing someone for a couple of months and I’ve been keeping it a little more private because it is a bigger story and a bigger conversation,” she explained. “Because I’m dating a girl.”
Her coming out was supported by both the hosts and her fans, who inspired Windey’s decision to speak her truth alongside her girlfriend, later revealed to be queer comedian Robby Hoffman.
“People know me and have kind of related to me on the previous shows I’ve been on and I really appreciate them,” Windey said. “Knowing how much people really care, I just want to be honest. I don’t want to live and not be living my full truth.”
She followed up the appearance with an adorable Instagram post featuring pics with Hoffman. In a nod to a phrase from her Bachelor days, she fittingly captioned it, “Told you I’m a girls girl!!”
Celebs like Chrishell Stause, Shangela, and even Bachelor alum Ben Higgins, Becca Tilley, and Kaitlyn Bristowe shared their support in the comments. Windey is also in good company alongside LGBTQ+ franchise stars like Colton Underwood.
Still, coming from “male gaze-y” and heteronormative worlds meant it was a surprise to family and friends, who had even called her “as straight as they come.”
“I told them in such a nonchalant way,” she told Glamour. “They didn’t really know what to do with it but said, ‘We just want you to be happy.’ I think parents think it’s just a phase, especially the older generation. But it’s not a phase. I just have to give them room. I am still figuring out what this means too.”
While Windey said bisexual is “the most honest label for [her],” she admitted, “after dating women, I don’t think I would ever date a man again.”
And even though Gabby admitted to being a “baby gay,” Hoffman (who’s appeared on Comedy Central and written for The Chris Gethard Show and Odd Squad) is everything she’s been looking for.
“With her, I can just be myself,” she told Glamour. “It’s an awakening. It’s serendipitous and kismet and kind of spiritual, but also very stable. We were both meant for a big type of love, and now it’s finally here.”
Now that sounds like the kind of television series we’d love to watch!
FreddieW
Maybe you could celebrate some lesbian nurses who still work in an ICU rather than women who achieve celebrity status catfighting on sexist, trash TV shows.
FreddieW
The cigarette is an interesting choice of props. I guess it beats divorcing gay male celebrities and their babies.