Bachelorette Gabby Windey Feels She’s ‘Been Led On’ After Final Fantasy Suite: ‘Ready to Be Done’
Gabby #Gabby
Warning: This post contains spoilers from Tuesday’s episode of The Bachelorette.
Two Bachelorettes means two nights of Fantasy Suites.
After bidding farewell to Johnny, Gabby Windey headed on her final overnight date with Jason. However, Jason had something big to tell Gabby, 31.
“I started feeling that I’m not at a place where I’m ready to get engaged,” Jason, 30, told the cameras. “I’m doing my best to stay true to myself and just to me, it just doesn’t feel right.”
But Gabby felt good about things going into the overnight. “I feel like I never have to explain myself,” she said of being around Jason. “I feel like I can be whoever I want to be.”
They played tennis, one of Jason’s favorite activities. “I had more fun today than I could’ve imagined,” Jason said. “It just felt special.”
Afterwards, Gabby and Jason hopped in the pool and recapped the hometown date in New Orleans. “No matter what we do, it’s fun,” Jason told Gabby.
“Every time I see you, it’s like no time has passed,” Gabby replied.
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Gabby headed into the evening portion of the date confident about her future with the investment banker. “I can definitely see him at the end of this with me,” she told the cameras. “After today, I just know it’s going to work for us.”
But then, Jason used dinner as an opportunity to tell her how he felt.
“I do know that I’m into you and when I’m with you, I feel like I’m having some of the best days ever,” he began. “And I know what the expectation of this is, for a lot of people is being engaged and being fully in love. And to me, to be like completely transparent and honest, I don’t think I’m fully there yet. I think it’s because in this environment, it’s constantly in my head like, what’s real? What’s not real? I’m questioning so many things … I don’t think in another seven days I’ll be ready for that. It’s just not something in my heart that feels right.”
Gabby tried to process the news. “I know it’s like, a big expectation but I don’t also know if you’re also at a place in your life where you can see me with you at all in the future,” she wondered.
“It’s so hard for me to see that right now within this bubble because I feel like you don’t even know who I am completely,” Jason said. “And I don’t fully feel like I know who you are.”
Jason added that he struggled with the process of the show. “It’s been hard for me to feel at ease with the cameras and microphones and stuff,” he explained.
Jaosn told the cameras he “definitely” didn’t want to “just walk away from” his relationship with Gabby.
“I think I totally see us getting to a point in real life where we can spend time together,” he told her.
Gabby Windey. Craig Sjodin via Getty Images
Gabby didn’t feel so sure, but Jason thought maybe some time alone in the Fantasy Suite could help them figure out how to move forward.
“I think being off camera and being private in privacy will help understand the situation and maybe I can hear you better and you can hear me better,” Jason said.
Gabby agreed.
In the morning, however, Gabby revealed that the time together away from the cameras didn’t help.
“Waking up, I’m hurt and I’m devastated,” she said in an on-camera interview. “Last night with Jason, once we got behind closed doors, we were talking in circles and I didn’t agree on how things were going to go. And if we needed more time and honestly, I was running out of patience. I was like, ‘Maybe it’s just not meant to be.’ And then he was like, ‘Yeah, definitely.'”
The pair slept separately and reconvened in the morning.
“It was incredibly tough for me and I truly needed that time to realize this wasn’t gonna work for us,” Jason told Gabby. “I’m sorry.”
Gabby told Jason he didn’t need to apologize because “it doesn’t lessen the blow” and later told him, “I’ve been led on.”
RACHEL’S LAST OVERNIGHT
After a Fantasy Suite with Tino that Rachel described as “so perfect,” she explored Mexico with Zach.
“When I’m with Rachel, everything is just so bright and fun and easy and that’s a pretty great feeling,” the tech executive, 25, said in an on-camera interview.
The couple walked around the Mexico streets, trying on hats, checking out souvenirs and eating local foods like Chapulines (grasshoppers!) They stopped in to see a tarot card reader, who told Rachel she’s indecisive and shouldn’t let the past affect her future.
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“The relationship between Zach and I is really powerful and he loves me and wants to take care of me,” Rachel told the cameras. “But with Tino and Aven, I also have such an incredible connection, so I’m struggling.”
Zach didn’t express any struggle. “I love this woman and I want to be with her for the rest of my life,” he said in an on-camera interview.
Rachel and Zach reflected on what the tarot card reader told them before heading to the Fantasy Suite.
“I couldn’t imagine what you were going through last year, what Clayton had done,” Zach said. “And that was obviously the worst thing a man could do.”
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At breakfast the next morning, something felt off between Rachel and Zach.
“It was a tough conversation but I’m glad you handled it well,” the flight instructor told Zach. “And hopefully it helped gain clarity.”
Gabby and Rachel. Craig Sjodin/ABC
Their conversation actually had the opposite effect. “I’m feeling a little confused after last night,” Zach said in an on-camera interview. “Fantasy Suite night with Rachel was not the night I expected. Initially in the Fantasy Suite, I was feeling so sure. We’re having this amazing time and we’re one step closer to engagement and we’re having an important conversation about religion, politics, all that stuff and Rachel brought up her fear that maybe I’m not ready for a commitment like marriage at this early of an age. And I’m like, ‘Don’t worry about that. I’m here for you.’ But then she got really adamant.”
Zach said that made him “second guess” their relationship. “It was like we were two strangers,” he continued. “I don’t know when it hit me, but Rachel’s concern came out of nowhere and I think it’s bulls— to be honest. And she was putting on a front. That scares me.”
Zach expressed his concerns to host Jesse Palmer. “When we were in the Fantasy Suite, just completely the way we were together, you know that feeling, did like a 180 and she was different, I was different,” Zach explained, adding that he found Rachel to be “very unauthentic” during their alone time.
Jesse, 43, wondered if it was “stuff she was saying or the tone of the conversation” that threw Zach off.
“A major concern was my age and she wasn’t sure if I was ready to commit because I’m 25,” Zach said, pointing out that Rachel is 26.
Zach resolved to talk to Rachel before the rose ceremony.
ROSE CEREMONY
Heading into that ceremony, Gabby felt “ready to be done,” she said.
Instead of going to hand out a rose, Gabby proceeded directly to talk to Erich, 29.
“I can’t tolerate any more pain,” she said in an on-camera interview. “I know walking away from him would be what I need to protect myself.”
But when she spoke to the real estate analyst, she chose not to walk away. “I know in my heart that you’ve fought for me so much and you love in this very secure and comfortable way,” Gabby told him. “Like you’ve taught me how I wanted to be treated and that it’s okay to ask for those things.”
Then she let Erich know that Johnny and Jason both left, making him the last man standing.
“I know it’s like, so hard, and I think I’ve felt it for a while, but I do know that I love you,” Gabby said to Erich.
Erich and Gabby. Craig Sjodin/ABc
“I love you,” he said before the two fell into a passionate kiss.
The interaction restored Gabby’s faith in the process. “Sometimes I’m like, pinch me because it’s way too good to be true,” she said in an on-camera interview.
Before Rachel could give out her roses, Zach asked her to talk — but the outcome won’t be seen until next week’s finale.
“We felt it was right to wait until both Rachel, Gabby and their men could be here to address all of the drama,” Jesse stated, calling what takes place in the finale “events that are going to change both Rachel and Gabby’s lives forever.”
The Bachelorette season 19 finale airs Tuesday (8 p.m. ET) on ABC.