Bachelorette Gabby Windey has been candid about how her estranged relationship with her affected her journey to find The One, opening up to her suitors about her childhood and lack of love from her mom, Rosemary.
“It all kind of stems from not having a ton of security from my mom,” the former Denver Broncos cheerleader told Clayton Echard on season 26 of The Bachelor, which aired earlier this year. “As kids, she was really physically affectionate, and then she would flip and kind of withhold your love. She would make you think that because of what you’re doing, she would withhold her attention very clearly. … We don’t really have a relationship now.”
After Clayton ended things with Gabby and Rachel Recchia because he still had feelings for Susie Evans on his season, ABC named the ICU nurse and the flight instructor co-leads for season 19 of The Bachelorette. Gabby’s mother was a topic of conversation from the beginning of the season.
During a one-on-one date with Nate Mitchell, Gabby got emotional hearing about the single father’s bond with his daughter.
“I started to think, ‘Am I there yet? Can I be a mother? Is this the life I want?’ But I don’t have to make that decision right now,” she told the cameras on a July 2022 episode.
Gabby later told Nate: “Listening to you speak about your daughter, watching you be able to give this unconditional love that’s going to go with her forever is, like, really the best thing I could ask for in a partner.”
During her second one-on-one date of the season, Erich Schwer told Gabby that he wanted a relationship like his parents’ marriage, referring to them as “soulmates” and “the best team I’ve ever seen.”
Gabby subsequently told him about her mother, noting, “I’m reserved to share that with people because I’ve been hurt so many times by a parent. … My mom, we’re estranged. I don’t have a relationship with her.”
The emotional toll of the conversation prompted her to walk away.
“A big part of me worries and is really scared that people aren’t going to be able to resonate with me and when we sat down initially and talked, I was really so scared,” Gabby said. “This is a huge honor and I don’t want to f—k it up. I’m not polished. I’m not like anyone they’ve seen in the past. I’m not like Rachel.”
The Bachelorette airs on ABC Mondays at 8 p.m. ET. Scroll through for more from Gabby about her mother: