TheBachelorettestar, on Monday night’s episode of the Disney+ series, made it to the finals of the long-running dance competition series thanks to two, perfect score dances with partner Val Chmerkovskiy. And while speaking with reporters including PEOPLE afterwards, she revealed that being on the show has helped her heal after her recent split with fiancéErich Schwer.
“Val speaks to this a lot, dance is — he says it’s a form of therapy just because you get to let your emotions really move through your body,” Windey, 31, said. “I think first, dance is a creative expression, and then second … And what is the word? Athletic. It’s a sport. It takes a lot of muscle, which is the part I hate. But I think there is a lot of therapeutic resolve in it.”
Asked if the show has been a distraction, Windey insisted she’s not quite running from her feelings.
“I don’t know if distraction is the right word, because you have to process it anyways,” she said, before noting how working with Chmerkovskiy has helped. “I’m grateful for a friendship with Val and just a way to really express myself through dance. And for that, not as a distraction, but a way to help me process.”
ABC/Raymond Liu
PEOPLE confirmed earlier this month that Windeyended her engagement to Schwer. Their split came less than two months aftershe accepted his proposalon the season 19 finale ofThe Bachelorettein September.
Fans had been speculating about the status of the pair’s relationship. She was spotted without her engagement ring onDWTS, and Schwer, 29, had not been seen in theballroom since October.
Breaking up in the middle of filmingDWTShasn’t been easy for Windey, she told the media on Monday.
“It was hard,” she recalled. “Ultimately, I’m just grateful that I was able to do it on my own terms and when I was ready. It was just a new experience overall, being so public and being thrown into this. So yeah, now it’s just trying to move forward.”
The former couple’sBachelorettelove story culminated with Schwer popping the question on the season 19 finale.
“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!”
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On Monday’s episode ofDWTS, Windey opened up about her split with Schwer and why things ultimately didn’t work out between them.
“For me, [love] holds a special place because I did just go through a break up,” she said as she prepared to channel the romance factor required in a Waltz. “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.”
Dancing with the Starsairs live on Mondays at 8 p.m. ET on Disney+.
source: people.com
