Gabby Windey crushes Dancing with the Stars opening night

One of the Bachelorettes of The Bachelorette Season 19 is getting some added screen time in another ABC show, Dancing with the Stars. Gabby Windey is participating in the 31st season and had a stellar opening performance.

Gabby is no stranger to dancing, performing throughout her childhood into high school. She revisited this passion during a stint as a Denver Bronco cheerleader. Now she gets back on the dance floor for a new adventure and her first-time ballroom dancing.

Her dance professional partner is Val Chmerkovskiy who has won the competition twice in his 18 seasons on the show. He also had a second-place finish with Zendaya and four third-place finishes. Last season he danced with Olivia Jade, social media influencer and daughter of Lori Loughlin. The duo finished 8th.

Gabby and Val danced a jive to Gabby’s favorite party song, the theme of the night, “As It Was” by Harry Styles. As they danced they had plenty of familiar faces in the front row. Her Bachelorette Season 19 co-star Rachel Recchia was in attendance in addition to fellow Bachelor Nation participants Tayshia Adams and Kaitlyn Bristowe, who won Season 29 of DWTS. Val also had his wife in attendance sitting with the ladies.

The duo was the 12th dance of the night and received a score of 28 out of 40. The judges were thoroughly pleased praising Gabby for her inherent dancing skill. Former DWTS pro and current judge Derek Hough said that they had the best dance of the night up to that point. Their 28 was tied for third best on the night out of 16 couples.

Gabby Windey joins Bachelor Nation on the dance floor

Gabby adds to the list of Bachelor Nation contestants on the show. It is an easy crossover with both shows being on ABC. Matt James of The Bachelor Season 25, was on the show last season. Before he was Kaitlyn on Dancing with the Stars Season 29. For the last six seasons, a contestant from Bachelor Nation has been on the show.

Melissa Rycroft, The Bachelor Season 13, was the first to be on the show with experience as a Dallas Cowboy cheerleader. Although she didn’t win in her first appearance on the show, she returned in season 15 for an all-star season of DWTS and won the Mirrorball trophy. Hannah Brown, The Bachelorette Season 15, joins Melissa and Kaitlyn as the only Bachelor Nation winners. Hannah and Kaitlyn won it in back-to-back years.

Gabby looked great on night one and has a lot of momentum moving into the next week. Gabby will look to become the four Bachelor Nation representative to win the Mirrorball trophy on Season 32 of Dancing with the Stars. The show is streaming live on Disney+ Monday nights at 8 PM EST. Next week is Elvis themed so couples will be dancing to hit songs from the King.

Don’t forget, the ending to The Bachelorette Season 19 ends tonight! Check out the article above to see what we can expect from the final night of the show! What do you think about Gabby Windey competing on this show? 

Let us know what you think in the comments below, Bachelor Nation!