Gabrielle "Gaby" Solis () is a fictional character portrayed by Eva Longoria on the ABC television series Desperate Housewives. Longoria was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Television Series Musical or Comedy for her performance.
Storylines
Backstory
Gabrielle Márquez was born in Las Colinas, Texas. Her family is from Guadalajara, Mexico. Born on December 8, 1976, she has a brother and a sister. Her father died of cancer when she was five years old. From that point on, her mother, Lucía Márquez (María Conchita Alonso), married Alejandro Perez (Tony Plana) who sexually abused Gabrielle throughout her teenage years. According to Gabrielle, her mother overlooked the matter, and a nun at her school refused to believe her claims of having been raped. When she was fifteen, Gabrielle ran away to New York City to pursue a career in modeling. Gabrielle achieved significant success but earned a reputation for being difficult. As her career began to fade, she married wealthy businessman Carlos Solis (Ricardo Antonio Chavira), who proposed after only three dates. They then relocated to Wisteria Lane in the fictional suburb of Fairview, Eagle State, where Gabrielle befriended Susan Mayer (Teri Hatcher), Lynette Scavo (Felicity Huffman), Bree Van de Kamp (Marcia Cross), and Mary Alice Young (Brenda Strong).
Season 1
In the pilot episode, Gabrielle is unhappy with her marriage to Carlos, whose priority is work. She is shown to be extremely lonely while Carlos is money-minded and oblivious to her unhappiness. To keep herself entertained, she has an affair with John Rowland (Jesse Metcalfe), her teenage gardener. Carlos suspects that Gabrielle is being unfaithful and he enlists the help of his mother, Juanita "Mama" Solis (Lupe Ontiveros). Mama Solis catches Gabrielle and John having sex and takes a photograph to document Gabrielle's betrayal. However, while fleeing the house, she is hit by a car driven by Andrew Van de Kamp, and Gabrielle is able to dispose of the evidence against her. Mama Solis falls into a coma and dies a few months later without having the opportunity to tell Carlos about Gabrielle's affair. Gabrielle and John end the affair after Susan and Helen (Kathryn Harrold), John's mother, find out about it. Soon after, Carlos is indicted for importing goods made by slave labor. The government freezes the Solis' bank accounts, forcing Gabrielle to perform low-wage modeling jobs to pay bills. Carlos is eventually released under house arrest while awaiting trial, during which time the couple faces several financial crises.
Carlos continually asks Gabrielle for a child, as well as a post-nuptial agreement that she will not divorce him while he is in jail. After Carlos physically forces Gabrielle to sign the documents, she reignites her affair with John. Later, Gabrielle discovers that she is pregnant and is unsure of who the father is. John hopes to help take care of the baby, but Gabrielle tells him she will only acknowledge Carlos as the father. Later, Gabrielle finds out that Carlos had tampered with her birth control in order to orchestrate her pregnancy. While Carlos is facing a separate trial for assaulting two different gay men he mistook for being Gabrielle's lovers (the first being a cable repairman who slipped in their bathroom after interrupting a tryst between Gabrielle and John, the second being John's roommate Justin), John admits to his affair with Gabrielle. Carlos attempts to attack John in court, and is subsequently convicted for hate crimes.