Gabby Windey has nothing but good things to say about Nate Mitchell. On Monday’s “Men Tell All” episode of The Bachelorette, the electrical engineer addressed online rumors that have been circulating around him since his appearance on the show, none of which seem to bother the lady whose heart he was vying for.
Though one woman online, who said she dated Nate for more than a year, claimed that the single dad kept his daughter, Mila, a secret, and another alleged that he dated multiple woman at once, Gabby wasn’t short on praise for her ex.
“Nate has shown me nothing but respect and nothing but love, so nothing could ever change my mind about him,” Gabby told ET. “I want people to know that Nate truly is one of the best men I have ever met in my life. He taught the other guys how to act and how to treat women, and he was such an upstanding figure in the journey. The men that I dated after him have a lot to kind of thank Nate for, because he was so supportive and such a figure in the house for them to look up to.”
When it comes to what she thinks about the rumors in question, Gabby told ET, “I feel like unfortunately the online platform gives everyone a voice.”
“I feel like people are going to tear people down, other people that they assume are undeserving,” she added. “Maybe a part of their goal is to somehow ruin someone else’s trajectory, because they don’t think it’s fair.”
Meanwhile, during the show, Nate addressed the allegations head-on in a hot seat conversation with host Jesse Palmer.
“I went through a pretty traumatizing time when I went through a divorce and essentially the foundation that was built around my daughter pretty much crumbled,” Nate said while addressing the rumor that he kept Mila a secret from an ex. “The one thing that I protect most on this Earth is my daughter. I would never bring her into a situation that I feel is dangerous, a situation that I feel is unstable, and so it just made me put a wall up, protecting my daughter from the instability of my dating life.”
As for the other claim, that Nate dated two women simultaneously, he said, “I’m deeply sorry for the way that I acted.”
“I should’ve been more communicative,” he admitted. “I should’ve been more clear in my intentions. I pray that you forgive the man that I was, because I’m not that same person.”
To the fans that questioned Nate’s intentions with Gabby in the wake of the accusations against him, the electrical engineer insisted, “Every moment and emotion that I had with Gabby was real.”
“We both felt it, we experienced it,” he said of himself and Gabby. “In past relationships, I can’t always say that we had the commitment of we’ll be boyfriend and girlfriend, but with this I committed to Gabby as her boyfriend. I walked into it with that lens.”
After the taping, Jesse told ET why the conversation with Nate was an important one to have.
“I just feel like it’s the elephant in the room right and I feel like we would have been doing a disservice to Bachelor Nation if we hadn’t brought that up and discussed what has been happening,” Jesse explained. “I know a lot of people on socials are talking about it, [and] the one person they hadn’t heard from yet was Nate. I think tonight was an opportunity for Nate to share his perspective, share his side of the story. I know that’s something that Nate really wanted to do himself too. He wanted to address everything. His own character is very, very important to him, so I was glad that he had that opportunity tonight.”
For Nate, it was so real with Gabby that he was left in tears after watching a recap of their journey play out during Monday night’s episode.
“Just seeing how beautiful our journey was, it just brought up so many raw emotions,” he said. “Even though we broke up, it was still a beautiful moment that I got to share in time with her. It was special.”
As fans know, Gabby ended things with Nate largely due to her fears about being a mom, which she has as a result of her estranged relationship with her own mother.
“It’s so hard to hear her say those things, because for me, to see so much in her, being a nurturer, someone that’s so compassionate, thoughtful, she just has so many facets to her that would make her the best mom, but I empathize with her,” Nate said. “No hard feelings between us.”
While speaking to ET, Gabby opened up about reuniting with Nate.
“I can’t say I was nervous, but I was really excited to see Nate again, and just to be able to connect with him, and tell him how much I truly think about him and how highly I regard him,” she said. “He made such an impact on my journey, so I wanted to remind him of that. After all this time I wanted to let him know that all my feelings still do really ring true… He’s such a good person to have just even peripherally in my life.”
Members of Bachelor Nation seem to agree about Nate’s character, with many hoping that he’ll be named the next Bachelor.
“I’ve been a Nate fan from day one,” Jesse told ET. “… To me, Nate is a standup guy, he’s an amazing person, he’s mature, he has an incredible emotional maturity, he’s vulnerable, he respects women, and he’s a great dad. There’s very few negative things I can say about Nate really, I mean that.”
“He deserves the world, and at some point he’s going to find that,” Tyler Norris agreed, with Meatball adding that Nate’s “a great guy,” and Mario Vassall stating that Nate has his support “a hundred percent.”
Even Rachel Recchia sang Nate’s praises to ET.
“I know Nate. He’s such an upstanding man. Every single guy… respects him so much,” she said. “I hope that the world will be able to see who he really is.”
The Bachelorette airs Mondays on ABC. Keep up with the historic season by following along with ET’s coverage of the series.