Gabby Windey has revealed how she thinks Dancing with the Stars will be a good change of pace for her after the emotional highs and lows she went through on The Bachelor and The Bachelorette.
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After competing on Clayton Echard's season of The Bachelor and then starring on The Bachelorette's nineteenth season alongside Rachel Recchia, Gabby will be trading in roses for dancing shoes when she competes on Dancing with the Stars' new season premiering Monday, September 19 at 8PM ET/PT on Disney+.
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"I think it will be a good shift of gears a little bit to kind of balance out the high emotion of my last experience," Gabby, 31, told Us Weekly in a recent joint interview with her Dancing with the Stars Season 31 professional partner Val Chmerkovskiy.
Gabby pointed out how her experience on The Bachelor franchise was "really emotional."
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"It was challenging in so many ways. You have to really get to know yourself, make yourself vulnerable, [and] try and make the right decision that's best for you at the time," Gabby explained.
In contrast, the ICU nurse said of Dancing with the Stars, "I feel like I'm now going into something more physical and a little bit more fun."
Gabby said training in ballroom dance and performing week to week will be "a challenge in a different way."
Gabby shared how she "has momentum" going into Dancing with the Stars considering she has grown a lot over the last year. She apparently feels she will be challenged "in a different way."
The former NFL cheerleader also explained how The Bachelor and The Bachelorette were "good building blocks" for Dancing with the Stars, although the reality dancing competition will obviously be "different" -- but "in a good way."
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The last two The Bachelorette stars who competed on Dancing with the Stars -- Kaitlyn Bristowe followed by Hannah Brown -- ended up winning and taking home the mirrorball trophy.
"No pressure!" Gabby joked with the magazine. "None."
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As for Val, he last won Dancing with the Stars in 2016 with his Season 23 partner Laurie Hernandez.
Given Val's experience and dedication to Dancing with the Stars, Gabby said she plans to follow directions and pay close attention to Val's teaching.
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"[My strategy is to] listen to everything that Val says and work hard and hopefully just have some fun," Gabby noted. "They just say to be yourself. So, we'll see if that's enough."
Val apparently believes it will be enough.
"I'm grateful to be back on the show and grateful to be dancing, and I actually have a partner that gives me a legit shot," Val told Us of potentially winning Dancing with the Stars this year.
"I really appreciate that as well. She's a great teammate, great partner, great mover. She can move, so I have all the elements that I need. She has a great fan base and people like her."
Val joked, "I don't know why, but they do," before adding, "And she has a great sense of humor that can go a long way... I think we have a really great team."
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Gabby will be one of 16 celebrities judged by Derek Hough, Carrie Ann Inaba, Bruno Tonioli, and Len Goodman on Dancing with the Stars 31, and she joked about how she doesn't want to get on The Real Housewives of New Jersey star Theresa Giudice's bad side.
"The cast is so amazing. I feel like there's so many big personalities, so many great performers," Gabby gushed.
But before Dancing with the Stars returns with Tyra Banks as host and Alfonso Ribeiro as co-host on Disney+, Gabby's The Bachelorette season continues on ABC.
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Heading into The Bachelorette's two-night finale event for Season 19, Gabby only has one suitor remaining, Erich Schwer. But it appears there is going to be drama and it's not just going to be "happily ever after" for the couple.
However, Gabby confirmed she is "happy" and said of her time as the Bachelorette, "I don't regret anything and I would do it all over again."
Gabby then winked and smiled and said, "Just kidding."
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