Gabby Windey and Rachel Recchia made their debut in the Bachelor franchise last season when Clayton Echard was the leading man.
As viewers watched Gabby’s hometown visit, they, as well as Gabby and her family, got emotional.
Moreover, this is when Gabby’s Grandpa John became one of Bachelor Nation’s favorite people.
As Gabby had told Clayton and viewers that her aunt, uncle, and grandpa would be the only ones meeting Clayton because of her dad’s health concerns with COVID-19, she also revealed that she and her mom don’t have a relationship.
Throughout Gabby and Rachel’s co-Bachelorette season, fans have watched as Gabby told even more about her and her mom’s nonexistent relationship.
Gabby has spoken out over the past two seasons on why she and her mom have this estranged mother/daughter relationship.
Bachelor Nation learned of Gabby Windey’s difficult relationship with her mom on The Bachelor
Gabby’s mom, Rosemary, has been a topic of discussion on the last season of The Bachelor, and this season with her as one of the two leading women.
Back in Clayton’s season, Gabby had said when talking about relationships and love, “It all kind of stems from not having a ton of security from my mom.”
She went on to relay, “As kids, she was really physically affectionate, and then she would flip and kind of withhold your love. She would make you think that because of what you’re doing, she would withhold her attention very clearly. …We don’t really have a relationship now.”
Gabby had also questioned this to Clayton as she said, “I was just like, ‘If my mom could stop loving me, why can’t anyone else?’”
News of Gabby Windey and Rosemary’s relationship has continued on this season of The Bachelorette
From the start of this season, Gabby began talking about her mom early on, and during her first one-on-one date with Nate, she got emotional when she listened to Nate talk about his bond with his daughter.
In fact, she told Nate that hearing him speak as a parent about his child like he did shows that his daughter will always have his unconditional love like a child should have from a mom and dad.
Again, during her next one-on-one date, this time with Erich, Gabby became emotional when Erich started talking about his parent’s marriage and their relationship.
Gabby then told Erich about her own childhood and upbringing and how her mom was not a good mom to her, and that’s all she really wanted.
She declared, “I’m reserved to share that with people because I’ve been hurt so many times by a parent. …My mom, we’re estranged. I don’t have a relationship with her.”
Gabby also stated, “I’ll maybe never know what it’s like to have a mother’s love, and it’s something that’s hard, and I’ll miss.”
During some time with Jason on the past episode of the show, Gabby again confided in him about her relationship with her mom. Gabby shared that her mother would be quick to take away love and say that if Gabby didn’t do this or that, she would ship her to live with her dad.
Gabby revealed to Jason, “And it’s like, I don’t ever want to lose my mom. That was so scary for me. And then when I left for college, she washed her hands of me and didn’t want anything to do with me.”
She also said that after a lot of therapy, she has learned to live with how things are. However, she did claim, “I think the hardest part is, like, I love her so much, but you can’t always – she just can’t be in my life. She just doesn’t have the tools to love me back.”
As Gabby has had to carry this burden in her life and through growing up, it has obviously left her feeling alone and sad. But through the love from her dad, her other family members, therapy, and her friends, Gabby has built up an independent, funny, and beautiful woman in herself that no one can take away.
The Bachelorette airs on Mondays at 8/7c on ABC.