Gabby Windey Addresses Erich's Blackface Photo, Leaked Texts: 'We're Seeing How We Can Become Better'
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Warning: This post contains spoilers from Tuesday's finale of The Bachelorette.
Gabby Windey left The Bachelorette engaged to Eric Schwer, but life as fiancés proved challenging once they entered the real world.
"There's lots of excitement. There's also some fear, because you don't know what you're really walking into," Gabby, 31, tells PEOPLE in this week's issue. "It's a whole new world post filming!"
Although Colorado-based Gabby plans to relocate to Los Angeles where Erich lives, she found being apart while her relationship remained a secret to be difficult. The couple compensated with "lots of FaceTimes" and "lots of communication," Gabby says.
RELATED: Gabby Windey and Erich Schwer Get Engaged in Bachelorette Finale: 'You Fought For Me So Hard'
The Dancing with the Stars season 31 contestant adds that the distance forced her and Erich to be open about their feelings early on. "If there was an inkling of a worry or of a concern, you have to bring it up sooner rather than later for yourself, because your time is so limited together," she says. "You would address some things in person and then be together again. You get into more of a rhythm."
Gabby wished she could've been with Erich when his dad Allan lost his battle to cancer in July.
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"That was and still is a really hard time for Erich, and I just wanted to be as supportive as I could for him and his family," the ICU nurse says. "It was hard to not be there in person and have to support from afar, for sure. It's strengthened our communication and hopefully we'll have a whole new part of our relationship to explore."
RELATED: All About Bachelorette Gabby Windey's Fiancé Erich Schwer
Craig Sjodin/ABC via Getty
Gabby and Erich faced another difficult time earlier this month when an image and texts from his past leaked. First, a high school yearbook of Erich in blackface surfaced.
The reality star admits she learned about the photo at the same time as the rest of the world and "I was incredibly shocked," Gabby says. "[I] just really had to process my thoughts and then think about how we can grow as a couple and learn from this."
They did, and Erich apologized on Instagram for his "offensive and damaging behavior."
But then one of Erich's exes leaked text messages that seemed to show the real estate analyst breaking up with her to go on the show — and only going on The Bachelorette for career advancement. The texts didn't faze Gabby, though, since Erich gave her a heads-up about them after filming wrapped.
"I was expecting the text messages," she reveals. "He was scared they were going to leak and I'm like, 'You have to prepare yourself now and tell me the truth.' And he did, so there's not really anything I can say or do."
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Sami Drasin Gabby Windey
Dealing with those situations back-to-back while their season aired its final episodes left the duo in rebuilding mode.
"Ultimately it was a time for us to take a step back and reflect on our relationship and see if we can get through this," Gabby says. "You have to really lead on your communication, be really honest with each other while having these tough conversations. We're seeing how we can become better from both."
Gabby won't shy away from putting in the work to build her connection with Erich.
"Our commitment to each other is there," she says. "Now it's just doing the hard work, which is getting to know each other, more communication, really strengthening those building blocks before we get to the altar."
