It’s basically a bouquet of roses.
As the next Bachelorette, Gabby Windey is about to meet plenty of suitors, all vying for her (and co-Bachelorette Rachel Recchia’s) attention. This is far from the first time Windey’s romantic life has been tied to Bachelor Nation. Besides her romance with former Bachelor Clayton Echard, the ICU nurse has also been linked to Bachelor In Paradise stars Dean Unglert and Blake Horstmann (before they were inducted into Bachelor Nation, BTW). All in all, Windey’s dating history is reality TV gold.
Though having so many Bachelor personalities in her past could have lended itself to serious drama for Windey (and still might, TBH, if the producers have anything to say about it), it seems like her situation with her exes is pretty low-key. Following Windey’s official limo entrance into Bachelor Nation, her exes came forward to talk about her — and they had nothing bad to say.
Following her time on the show, Windey opened up about her sitch. “When I came home — you know, we don’t have our phones when we’re filming — and then I came home to, like, all of this stuff that Blake and Dean had been talking about me. It seemed like all positive things, which, you know, I’m grateful for,” she said during a January episode of the Talking It Out podcast. “I think they’re great people.”
Here’s everything you need to know about Windey’s dating history. Plus, Unglert and Horstmann’s predictions for her Bachelor success.
Windey and Dean Unglert dated for over a year when they were 19 and students at University of Colorado Colorado Springs. Things got pretty serious between the two of them. During an October 2021 episode of his Help! I Suck At Dating podcast, Unglert called Windey the “second love of my life, if you will.”
He also made a very accurate prediction for Windey’s time on the show even before the season started airing. “If she gets selected for the show, she’ll either win the show or she’ll be the next Bachelorette,” he said. Clearly, there’s no bad blood here.
Blake Horstmann and Windey also have a bit of a history though it sounds like their relationship wasn’t super serious. During an episode of Horstmann’s Behind The Rose podcast in October 2021, he explained, “Gabby was a good friend of one of my very good friends from college.” And when Windey was 23, they were actually together “for a couple of months,” Horstmann added, per Us Weekly.
Just like Unglert, he seemed to have nothing but good things to say about her. “She’s fun. She has a very outgoing personality, very loud, like, when she walks into a room, you know she’s in a room,” he said. “She's a cheerleader who f*cking saves lives. … She seems ready to settle down. … I've known her for a very long time. So shout-out to Gabby, hopefully she’s got a good edit.”
Audiences watched Windey’s relationship with Clayton Echard play out during his season of The Bachelor. Throughout the show, the duo had a lot of fun together and Windey even made it to fantasy suites and met Echard’s family before it all went downhill. Though they didn’t end on the best of terms (ICYMI, Windey refused to let Echard walk her out), it doesn’t sound like the Bachelorette is holding any grudges.
Apparently, Windey even reassured Susie Evans (Echard’s final pick) that Echard wasn’t a “bad guy.” Evans told People in March 2022, “Gabby fully supported me coming out to meet with Clayton again. She even said, ‘I don't think Clayton's a bad guy. I don't think he had malicious intent at all.’”
Although Windey’s Bachelor Nation relationships haven’t worked out so far, here’s hoping fourth time’s the charm.
