Colton Underwood wants an ex Bachelor star Gabby Windey to let her know he’s rooting for her.
The Bachelor alum, 31, praised Windey, 32, in an interview with Hey! News after recently revealing that she was dating a woman.
“I’m extremely proud and excited for her,” he said Out comes Colton star told the outlet at her 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 anyone from that franchise or anyone from the TV and reality world who can live their truth,” he said, noting that such queer representation in reality TV is “really important.”
Underwood added that he knows what Windey is “going through” after finding out he’s gay two years after being the bachelor. He is now married to Jordan C. Brown.
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Jordan C. Brown and Colton Underwood.
Charles Sykes/Bravo
“I know it’s challenging to go through a show like that just with the pressure of America rooting for a relationship without you being in it,” he explained.
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Windey broke the news about her romantic life during her appearance on 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’ve been seeing someone for a few months and I’ve kept it a little more private because it’s 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 pair. “I told you I was a girl!!” she wrote a post on Instagram.
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Robby Hoffman and Gabby Windey.
Christopher Willard/ABC via Getty
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Before dating the TV writer and comedian, Windey ended the show’s 2022 season for her and Rachel Recchia. Bachelor engaged to Erich Schwer, but they later broke up 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 to be open about it and just be able to be who we are 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 have to be in public and be proud of it.”
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Source: HIS Education