Gabby Windey on Reality TV Being Dead to Her, The Body Acting Debut

“Teenagers really terrify me,” jokes Gabby Windey. Ironic for an actor in TV’s latest high-school set ensemble show.

The former ICU nurse and NFL cheerleader turned TV personality rose to pop culture stardom on The Bachelor and co-led her own season of The Bachelorette. In the time since, she won the internet’s favorite competition series, The Traitors, and did a stint on Dancing With the Stars, placing second in her season. Now, she’s diving headfirst into a career in acting with The Body.

“Reality’s dead to me,” Windey says, cheekily. It’s a joke, but there’s likely an inkling of truth there. The 35-year-old is intent on building a career as an actress.

She’s grateful for the experiences she’s had on TV leading up to this point, but she’s not sure there’s anything left for her in that space. “I loved all of my experiences,” she says. “I’m very aware it got me here, but just like everything, you want to grow and evolve. This is just the next step in my career.”

Thankfully, she’s had some guidance in navigating the world. Windey, who publicly came out as a lesbian in 2023, has her wife, comedian and Hacks star Robby Hoffman, to help with practicing her lines and getting ready for her recent gigs. “I take work really seriously,” she says.

Windey plays Coach Shauna Miller in Netflix‘s coming-of-age genre-bending offering The Body. She auditioned for creator Quinn Shepard, who has said she felt inspired by the films she loved growing up when making the queer Catholic school thriller.

“She’s gay, I’m gay, so I guess that’s all you need,” Windey jokes of why Shepard cast her. The actress was drawn to the show’s “dark” nature and the fact she, a former professional dancer, wasn’t playing a dancer. Instead, she plays the quirky, pregnant dance team coach.

Below, Windey digs into The Body, her latest craft obsession and how that relates to the book she’s writing.

We spoke very briefly after you won The Traitors. Hope you eventually got that prize money because at the time you were really concerned about them not paying you that.

You know what? I did finally get it, but it’s like after I kicked and screamed.

Classic. Well, you’re on The Body now. I was a little surprised to see you. How did this come about for you?

I had auditioned for a couple roles before, just self-tapes, which are a scam we’re all learning. Nobody ever gets a job off of a self-tape. Quinn was my first Zoom, and I was terrified. It was so hot in my office. It was in the middle of last summer, so I was beat red, sweating, freaking out, and somehow still got the part. To anybody who’s nervous or feels like they blew it due to extreme heat, you’re fine. You can do it. Keep going.

Where did you find inspiration for your role as the coach? Are there any iconic coaches of TV or movie past that you were getting inspired from?

Not really. I know the coach from Glee, yes, is iconic, but no. I’ve had coaches before, but I mostly just thought — how would I be really as a coach? I’m not always surrounded by younger women. Teenagers really terrify me. They’re the scariest people in the world. Going to Sephora at 3 p.m. is my nightmare. I was just like, this is new for me, something I’m not around, so how would I be in a leadership role, which is very unserious? I think it checked out. Whether the coach was designed to be like this, or I was able to make it — what felt right to me just worked out because it turned out they don’t really need a coach. She’s kind of useless.

What made you want to get into acting? Did you always have this aspiration or is it a more recent thing?

I mean, it’s embarrassing to say out loud, “I want to be an actress,” so I never really did say it out loud. But I was hoping always a time would come. Getting onto TV, initially, I knew I wanted to make a career out of it. I didn’t know how or what that was going to look like. But once I signed with a bigger team and agents and stuff and I wanted to try it all. When I saw there was an acting agent in the room, I was like, oh, fuck yeah. If other people think I can do it, then I know I can do it. That just gives me an air of confidence, to have the resources. I’m auditioning. I’m not playing myself. I want to do roles.

What was your experience like working with the cast on The Body?

I loved the cast, and I got really close with the girls. They’re all so talented and amazing. I’m in there with the Gen Z. They very much were like, “Oh, Millennial Gabby.” And I’m like, “Can you guys knock it off? I am the coolest millennial you will ever meet.” They were like, “Oh, it’s so nice seeing an older lesbian.” I’m like, “I’m literally going to kill you.” Murder-suicide. “I’m going to kill you first and then I’m going to kill myself.” They all meant it out of love. Not that I ever want to be inspiring or a role model to anybody, but some of the cast was queer, so I think it was nice seeing somebody like me who just is doing it and very happy.

Obviously the acting is working out. You’re continuing to book roles. You also filmed Peaked recently. How was that?

It was amazing. It was probably the best job I’ll ever have. I know it’s downhill from here. It was like summer camp. It’s a comedy. I was around some of the funniest people, so we just literally laughed all day. Molly Gordon is incredible. I cannot say enough about her. She just literally let me do what I wanted with the role too, which is amazing. There’s a lot of freedom. She trusted everybody. It was literally just play. My character in Peaked is who I’ve always wanted to be if I had no reservations.

What roles are you hoping come your way?

I’ve always wanted to be a scream queen. I’ve been screaming, screaming about the scream queen since the beginning. For some reason, it just hasn’t happened yet, but I think it would be really fun to play the victim and be a scared damsel. I told my agents that I don’t want to be pigeonholed in anything from the beginning of my career. I never wanted to be just one thing. I don’t just want to be the side comedy bitch. But with that being said, sets are way more fun when you’re laughing and you get to see everybody else in their prime. It’s like, do I want to enjoy my work or not? I don’t know if I would enjoy a drama, but you never know unless you try.

What does your ideal day off look like? If you know that nothing is happening that day, what are you doing?

God, I love a day off. I’m always in a nightgown, preferably 100 percent silk, back when clothes were good. Maybe it’s pink and a little mesh. Also, a silk robe and maybe some skincare. I’ll have my morning coffee and read a book. I’ll get high around 3 p.m., maybe craft a little and watch a good movie. My wife is right next to me, preferably saying nothing, which is very, very rare. It never happens, but you said an ideal day. Maybe ending [the day] with a good meal and good conversation, but not leaving the house. I will not leave the house on an ideal day.

Do you need a bed-rot day every once in a while?

Yes. Even just vacuuming. I like to be connected to the house, and vacuuming makes me feel connected emotionally. There’s nothing like a rug that’s freshly vacuumed. I don’t even know if Robby knows where the vacuum is, but she knows when it’s done, that’s for sure. I have houseplants, so I like to water the plants and prune them. Really… I’m a bit domesticated. It might surprise people. It surprises me, definitely, coming into my older self, but I’m growing mint. I don’t cook. It’s mostly for my friend, but it smells nice. I like to grow things.

What’s your go-to craft at the moment?

Everyone’s heard that I’m making pill bottles because everyone knows I’m ragingly depressed. I depend on medication. I have a sparkly pill bottle that I’ll take my day meds in my purse if I’m going to be gone, because I have to take meds three times a day. I’ve been wanting to make pill bottles, so I got little charms. Really, it’s just a distraction. I’m supposed to be writing a book, so I’m really needing to put it away. But this is taking up all my time. They take three hours to make.

That’s kind of nice though. You can turn everything off.

It’s so fun. They’re fun to look at. Everyone in my life is so sick of me talking about them because it’s all I want to talk about. I’ll ask if they want to see my pill bottles, [and they say] no. Well, too bad.