Colton Underwood Is 'Extremely Proud' of Gabby Windey for Coming Out: I Know What She's 'Going Through'

"I'm just extremely proud of anybody from that franchise or any of the TV and reality world that gets to live their truth,” the 'Bachelor' alum said

Colton Underwood wants former Bachelorette star Gabby Windey to know that he is rooting for her.

The Bachelor alum, 31, praised Windey, 32, in an interview with E! News after she recently revealed that she’s dating a woman.

"I'm super proud and excited for her," the Coming Out Colton star told the outlet at his inaugural Pickle! for Purpose Celebrity Pickleball Tournament on Saturday, held at Pepperdine University's Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center in Malibu, California.

"I'm just extremely proud of anybody from that franchise or any of the TV and reality world that gets to live their truth,” he said, noting that such queer representation in reality TV is “really important.”

Underwood added that he knows just what Windey is “going through” after he came out as gay two years following his stint as the Bachelor. He is now married to Jordan C. Brown.

Related: Colton Underwood Explains Why He Feels '75% Gay' to His 'Bachelor' Ex Hannah Brown

"I know it's challenging going through a show like that with just the pressures of America rooting for a relationship without being in it," he explained.

Related: Colton Underwood Says Pickleball Is 'Having a Moment Right Now': 'I'm Here for It' (Exclusive)

Windey broke the news about her romantic life during her appearance on The View in August.

“I always just want to live my truth, and my story,” she said on the show at the time. “And so I have been seeing someone for a couple months, and I’ve been keeping it a little more private because it is like a bigger story and a bigger conversation, because I’m dating a girl!”

The nurse later went Instagram official with girlfriend Robby Hoffman, sharing a carousel of photos of the couple. “Told you I’m a girls girl!!” she captioned the Instagram post.

Related: The Bachelorette's Gabby Windey Admits She Was Surprised She Fell for a Woman but Sees a Future with 'My Girl'

Before dating the TV writer and comedian, Windey had ended her and Rachel Recchia’s 2022 season of The Bachelorette engaged to Erich Schwer, but they later called it quits that November.

Speaking about her new romance with Hoffman, Windey said she never had to "hide" their relationship.

“We were out in our personal lives. Our friends and family knew, so we weren't actively trying to hide anything,” Windey told PEOPLE exclusively at the iHeartRadio Music Festival in September. “It’s just nice being open about it and just being able to be ourselves and celebrate our relationship.”

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She added, “We were so excited in private, and now it's like we all just want an excuse to celebrate and be happy, so we got to be in public and be able to be proud about it.”

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