Joey Graziadei had a lot of hope for his season of The Bachelor, but he wasn’t 100 percent confident heading into hometowns that it would work out for him.
“At this point, going into hometowns, I was probably 70/30 [or] 80/20 [percent confident it would work] because I could see the relationships were getting there but we hadn’t gotten to the point of anyone expressing that they’re actually in love with me, if there’s real feelings, if they could see a future,” Joey, 28, said on “Bachelor Happy Hour” podcast episode on Thursday, February 29.
He continued, “Those conversations come later on and during it, I think that what you’re feeling is, ‘Is it going to keep progressing?’ Because it is right now but, ‘Is it going to get there?’ So there’s always going to be that 20 to 30 percent doubt until you know someone feels the same way that you might feel.”
Joey has four contestants remaining heading into hometown dates: Daisy Kent, Kelsey Anderson, Maria Georgas and Rachel Nance. Each woman will introduce the tennis pro to their families during the Monday, March 4, episode.
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During hometowns, Joey noted that he was sure to ask questions to his contestant’s family members and “wasn’t quick to judge” if he felt like something was “a little off.”
“There’s so many dynamics and things that might affect whether it goes well or not,” he said. “If I felt any pushback from a family member, I would want to learn and ask more about why. Because I think that it’s important to understand it and not just go with how they’re feeling.”
Joey said he “learned not to judge completely off of the hometown” after his own trip home wasn’t smooth sailing during Charity Lawson’s season 20 of The Bachelorette. (During the 2023 season, viewers were introduced to Uncle Joe, who expressed doubt about Joey’s relationship with Charity, 28.)
“I can speak from experience, the reason why my uncle was pushing so much and why he was unsure is because he was protecting me and making sure I felt that way,” he said. “And wanted to really feel out the person that I could possibly end [up] with because that was the last time he was going to see her if that was the case.”
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He continued, “Intentions were there, he just was a little rough around the edges with how he did it. And I know other family members can be that way too.”
The Bachelor airs on ABC Mondays at 8 p.m. ET.
