Gabby Windey is sharing what went wrong in her relationship with ex-fiancé, Erich Schwer.
During Monday's episode of Dancing With The Stars, the former Bachelorette lead, 31, opened up about her split with Schwer, 29, and why things ultimately didn't work out between them.
Ahead of her first dance of the night with pro partner Val Chmerkovskiy, Gabby shared her own experiences with love as she prepared to channel the romance factor required in a Waltz.
"For me, [love] holds a special place because I did just go through a break up," she said. "The end of our relationship happened because we weren't completely in step and in sync with each other on our common goals or just the way we approach life. We weren't each other's best match."
"But I'm just so grateful that my dad and my stepmom encompass so many fundamentals and values that I look for in a relationship: never placing blame or you did this or that. OK, someone left the microwave dirty," she continued. "But, like, it doesn't matter. ... I want to channel that kind of everlasting love in this dance."
Earlier this month, PEOPLE confirmed Windey ended her engagement to Schwer less than two months after she accepted his proposal on the season 19 finale of The Bachelorette in September.
The decision to end the relationship came after Windey revealed that the couple was focusing on their individual goals while she competed on season 31 of DWTS.
After being asked whether she and Schwer were still together, Windey told Fox News, "I think life is just really busy for the both of us right now. So, I understand their concern but we're just kinda, you know, going forward with each of our individual interests and supporting each other from afar."
Windey's comment came after fans speculated about the status of their relationship. The former Bachelorette was spotted without her engagement ring on the Disney+ series while Schwer was not seen in the DWTS ballroom after supporting his fiancé in the early weeks of the competition.
Windey previously told reporters it was "amazing" to have Schwer watching her from the crowd.
"Just me being excited to perform for him, and him to see a different side of me that we don't get to share with each other every day," she shared at the time.
The couple's Bachelorette love story culminated with Schwer popping the question on the season 19 finale of The Bachelorette in September 2022.
Following their television proposal, Windey opened up to PEOPLE about the challenges they faced once they entered the real world after wrapping the ABC reality show.
"There's lots of excitement. There's also some fear, because you don't know what you're really walking into," she said at the time. "It's a whole new world post-filming!"
Dancing with the Stars airs live on Mondays at 8 p.m. ET on Disney+.
