Gabby Windey Explains Why She Wasn't Part of “Bachelorette” Reunion for Taylor Frankie Paul
Gabby Windey Explains Why She Wasn't Part of “Bachelorette” Reunion for Taylor Frankie Paul
Brenton BlanchetMon, March 16, 2026 at 3:47 PM UTC
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Gabby Windey; Taylor Frankie PaulCredit: Neilson Barnard/Getty; Mike Coppola/Getty -
Gabby Windey is sharing why she was absent from ABC's The Bachelorette: Before the First Rose
The former Bachelorette star was one of a handful of women who didn't make it out for the preview event in honor of Taylor Frankie Paul's season
"I think she'll crush," Windey said of Paul
Gabby Windey is sharing why she was not part of Taylor Frankie Paul's big Bachelorette reunion.
On Sunday, March 15, after the Oscars aired on ABC, the network unveiled The Bachelorette: Before the First Rose, a preview special featuring 18 former stars of the series as they looked back at their respective journeys and offered advice to Paul, 31.
The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives star will lead season 22 of The Bachelorette, which premieres on Sunday, March 22.
While several women got together to wish Paul luck ahead of her series debut, a few former Bachelorettes were notably absent. Jillian Harris (season 5) and Jenn Tran (season 21) shared messages for Paul despite their absences, while a handful of women did not participate.
Taylor Frankie Paul for 'The Bachelorette'Credit: Michael Kirchoff/Disney
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Among them, Windey, 35, told Entertainment Tonight at the Vanity Fair Oscars afterparty on Sunday, March 15, that she couldn't make the filming because she was "out of town." When asked if she had a "little FOMO" over not being there, The Traitors star replied, "Always."
"I've just been so busy so it's hard to make everything work," she said. "But, no, that's amazing. I'm so happy for them just to get together again."
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As for her take on Paul's casting, Windey called it "genius," adding, "I think she'll crush."
Windey, who will host the new Hulu dating show Love Overboard, previously co-led the show's 19th season in 2022. She has since married comedian Robby Hoffman in 2025. The duo marked one year of marriage in two separate heartfelt tributes on Instagram in January.
The Bachelorette alumni who appeared in the reunion were Trista Sutter, Meredith Phillips, DeAnna Pappas, Ali Fedotowsky-Manno, Ashley Hebert-Rosenbaum, Emily Maynard-Johnson, Desiree Siegfried, Andi Dorfman-Hart, Kaitlyn Bristowe, JoJo Fletcher, Rachel Lindsay, Becca Kufrin, Hannah Brown-Woolard, Tayshia Adams, Katie Thurston, Rachel Recchia, Charity Lawson and Golden Bachelorette Joan Vassos.
Gabby Windey attends the 2025 MTV Video Music Awards on Sept. 7, 2025Credit: Kevin Mazur/Getty
As for Paul, the Mormon Wives star was announced to be the face of season 22 back in September 2025. At the time, she revealed the news to Call Her Daddy host Alex Cooper, calling it "surreal."
"How do I make this work? I'm a co-parent I have two baby daddies not one, so I'm dealing with two different people, my children, my home base is here. Can I travel that long? Can I be gone that long?" the mother of three said of her questions ahead of filming.
"But then I'm also thinking on the side, the other two moms that are in my group [Jen Affleck and Whitney Leavitt] are doing Dancing with the Stars and they brought their family out, but also they have their husbands. So for me I'm like, is this possible for me to do as a single mom? Can I make it work realistically no matter how much I want this? And I was like, I can, if you want to you can and it comes down to that so I was just like, I will make it work ... I can ask for help more."
The Bachelorette premieres on Sunday, March 22, at 8 p.m. ET on ABC and streams the next day on Hulu.
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