Gabby Windey Is ‘Trying to Move Forward’ After ‘Hard’ Public Breakup From Erich Schwer

It’s officially over for Gabby Windey and Erich Schwer — and the Bachelorette is moving on. “It was hard,” the 31-year-old reality star told Us Weekly after she addressed the split for the first time on the Monday, November 14, episode of Dancing With the Stars. “Thank you for acknowledging that. And ultimately, I'm just grateful that I was able to do it on my own terms and when I was ready. It was just a new experience overall — being so public and being thrown into this. I think now it's just kind of trying to move forward.” Speculation about Windey and Schwer began late last month when she ditched her Neil Lane engagement ring. (He proposed during the September finale.) News broke on November 4 that the twosome were on the rocks, with host Jesse Palmer telling Us Weekly that the duo were trying to “work through things.” On Monday, Windey explained that the twosome simply “weren’t each other’s best match.” Gabby Windey and Erich Schwer Shutterstock; ABC “The end of our relationship happened because we weren’t completely in step and in sync with each other in our common goals or just the way we approach life,” she said on the reality competition show. After securing her spot in next week’s finale, Windey told Us and other reporters that dance has been therapeutic amid her breakup. “Val [Chmerkovskiy] speaks to this a lot. … He says it a form of therapy just because you get to let your emotions really move through your body,” she said. “I think first, dance is a creative expression. And then second, it's a sport. It takes a lot of muscle, which is the part I hate, but I think there is a lot of therapeutic resolve in it.” Gabby Windey and Erich Schwer Craig Sjodin/ABC She added that she doesn’t believe “distraction” is the right word to describe the show helping her cope through her public split. “You have to process it anyways,” she said. “But I'm grateful for a friendship with Val and just a way to really express myself through dance and for that, not as a distraction, but a way to help me process.” Rounding out the finalists for season 31 are Charli D'Amelio, Wayne Brady and Shangela. “It means so many things, but mostly that my wildest dreams are coming true,” Windey said of making it to the finale. “And just another opportunity to dance with Val and on this platform. So it means everything.” The finale of Dancing With the Stars airs on Disney+ Monday, November 21, at 8 p.m. ET.