Vinny Guadagnino has given his blessing to Gabby Windey upon recently hearing about her secret relationship.
The Jersey Shore star and former Bachelorette were celebrity competitors during the same season of Dancing with the Stars and sparked rumors of a romance due to flirty comments online.
On Wednesday, Gabby surprised many people when she revealed that she’s been in a secret relationship with a female comedian for the past three months.
There was no disappointment on Vinny’s part, who talked about how he’d been alongside his fellow DWTS alum several months ago.
“I did the [Dancing With the Stars] tour with [Windey] a few months ago, and it was funny because she was so stressed out on that tour because she did every single date,” he told US Weekly.
“But after seeing this today, I’m so happy to see her be happy and live her truth and to see her face again,” he said.
Gabby Windey revealed she’s been in a secret relationship
Taking to her Instagram on Wednesday, former Bachelorette Gabby Windey unveiled a carousel post featuring photos with her girlfriend of the past three months.
The first photo featured Gabby cozying up next to Robby Hoffman, a female comedian, for an outdoor selfie.
Additional images featured Hoffman by herself for various pics or the couple together. The second-to-last slide showed Hoffman kissing Gabby in a close-up shot, while the final photo showed Gabby holding a rose in the crowd.
“Told you I’m a girl’s girl,” the reality TV star wrote in her caption.
The post collected over 288,000 likes and 7,000-plus comments, as many fans celebrated Gabby’s relationship.
In a follow-up IG post, The View and Gabby shared a clip of her appearance on the show as she spoke about her secret relationship.
“I always just want to live my truth and my story,” she said during her appearance.
“So I have been seeing someone for a couple of months, and I’ve been keeping it a little more private because it is a bigger story and a bigger conversation,” Gabby said, before revealing, “I’m dating a girl.”
That initially surprised some of The View hosts, but the audience began clapping and cheering, as did Gabby.
Gabby co-starred with Rachel Recchia in ABC’s The Bachelorette Season 19, which aired from July to September 2022. The duo were runners-up on the 26th season of The Bachelor, which starred Clayton Echard.
Real estate analyst Erich Schwer was Gabby’s winner of the show but confessed to her he couldn’t guarantee an engagement. While Gabby was initially upset over him telling her this, she decided it wasn’t a dealbreaker.
However, it was revealed that Erich eventually proposed to Gabby, and they got engaged. In November 2022, the couple confirmed they had ended their engagement.
Guadagnino and Windey dating rumors arrived with DWTS
Vinny Guadagnino, 35, rose to fame as part of the OG cast of MTV’s Jersey Shore, which aired from 2009 to 2012. He appeared on spinoffs Double Shot at Love and The Show with Vinny, as well as Jersey Shore: Family Vacation, which is beginning Season 7 on MTV.
He and Gabby were competitors in Dancing with the Stars Season 31, which premiered in September 2022 and concluded that November. Vinny finished seventh for the season alongside pro dance partner Koko Iwasaki, while Gabby and her partner, Val Chmerkovskiy, were the runner-ups.
A few weeks after Gabby’s November 2022 split from The Bachelorette winner Erich, rumors swirled about her and Vinny due to flirty social media comments during their time on DWTS and the live tour afterward.
Monsters and Critics reported Gabby’s remarks about a potential relationship with Vinny this past April. While she said Vinny was “just like a good friend,” and a relationship wouldn’t work due to their busy schedules, she also teased, “Never say never.”
Based on recent revelations, Gabby began dating Hoffman just around or after those comments.
Vinny was asked Wednesday if he ever might go on a date with Gabby and her girlfriend. The Jersey Shore star had no qualms about it whatsoever.
“Of course, yea Gabby’s a good friend of mine, for sure,” Vinny told US Weekly.
Jersey Shore: Family Vacation airs Thursdays at 8/7c on MTV. Dancing with the Stars is on hiatus on ABC and Disney+.