‘Bachelorette’ alum Gabby Windey and fiancé Erich Schwer break up
Former “Bachelorette” lead Gabby Windey and her fiancé, Erich Schwer, have broken up, Page Six can confirm.
The ICU nurse, 31, called off her brief engagement to the real estate analyst, 29, earlier this week, a Bachelor Nation source told E! News Friday.
“She felt they weren’t aligned and weren’t on the same page,” the source shared.
“Gabby was hoping they could give each other space and work it out but ultimately decided they didn’t have a future.”
The former couple first sparked split rumors Monday when Windey said they were “supporting each other from afar.”
“I think life is just really busy for the both of us right now, so I understand [fans’] concern,” she told Fox News Digital when asked about the status of her relationship with Schwer after he missed her “Dancing With the Stars” Halloween performance despite cheering her on during previous episodes.
“We’re just kind of, you know, going forward with each of our individual interests and supporting each other from afar,” she added.
The two got engaged on the Season 19 finale after Schwer was initially hesitant to pop the question so early on in their relationship.
Shortly after, the reality TV stars faced a series of obstacles relating to Schwer’s personal life before the show.
A photo of him wearing blackface makeup and an Afro wig in a high school yearbook surfaced on social media in early September.
Shortly after the snap made its rounds, Schwer apologized for the “insensitive” costume.
“What I thought at the time was a representation of my love for Jimi Hendrix, was nothing but ignorance,” he wrote on Instagram on Sept. 8.
“I was naïve to the hurtful implications of my actions to the Black community and those closest to me, and will forever regret my offensive and damaging behavior.”
Schwer only continued to face public scrutiny when his ex-girlfriend Amanda Kaylor shared text messages between the two of them. He wrote prior to starring on “The Bachelorette” that the show was not “real” and that he was only going on TV to see if “there was something else [he] could do with [his] life.”
The New Jersey native owned up to sending the messages and called himself “cowardly” during the “After the Final Rose” finale, which aired on Sept. 20.
“I led this girl on and used the show as an excuse to not confront her about our relationship,” he said. “I didn’t see a future, but we were having fun, and it was easy to have fun instead of making the hard decision to tell her it wasn’t long-term.
“I think this is all a testament to me being the last person ever expected to be on this show. I came into this just hoping to make it past night one and see what happens. I’d watched one episode before I came on and was just figuring it out as I got there.”
Windey addressed both the blackface photo and the messages after the live finale.
“I was incredibly shocked,” she told People of the yearbook snap. “[I] just really had to process my thoughts and then think about how we can grow as a couple and learn from this.”
As for the texts, Windey explained that Schwer had given her a heads-up because he was “scared they were going to leak.”
“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,” she continued. “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.”