The Bachelor has been on the air for more than 20 years, and The Bachelorette is about to kick off its own 21st season. Longevity aside, however, the franchise hasn’t always been known to foster long-lasting relationships. Just look at The Golden Bachelor, with Gerry and Theresa divorcing after a matter of months, and Bachelor in Paradise, whose disaster of a ninth season saw all of its couples split within a week of the finale airing. Could Joey Graziadei and Kelsey Anderson be amongst the rare success stories? I am optimistic, especially after learning how they spent their Fantasy Suite date.
Joey Graziadei proposed to Kelsey Anderson on The Bachelor Season 28 finale, but before he got down on one knee, the couple had a pretty important conversation on their overnight date. The tennis pro told Jason Tartick on the Trading Secrets podcast that they “100%” talked about their careers and what they wanted to do with the opportunities afforded to them by their reality TV fame. Joey explained:
It’s important to understand what you’re trying to see what’s next, because I think anytime you get into this world, you have to ask the question of what it’s going to be like to be in a public relationship. And that conversation naturally pivots into, ‘Well, what do you want to do with all of this?’
The Bachelor contestants sometimes are able to continue their fame once their seasons end, and while Joey Graziadei acknowledged that going on the show for clout would be considered “for the wrong reasons,” he also said “you would be a fool not to at least have that conversation” about what each party hoped to get out of the experience. He said it was something he and Charity Lawson talked about on The Bachelorette, and then again with Kelsey Anderson. The former Bachelor said:
I did the same thing with her when we were in ours, to be like, ‘What do you want to do? Do you want to be in the public light? Do you want to shy away from it? Do we want to try to figure out ways to get back to our normal life? If we can’t, how are we going to pivot and do that?’
The conversation lasted at least an hour, they said, and the fact that they made sure their expectations for the future were aligned before they got engaged really gives me hope that they could go the distance. During their talk, they agreed they were willing to be open to the public, but that their relationship was the most important thing. Joey continued:
No one gets to see [those conversations] either, because that’s not what the TV show is all about. Like, they’re not going to understand, no one gets to see that conversation. No one gets an insight into my brain about every step I took through this to try to make sure that when she left that she had zero doubts that I was fully invested in her.
Joey Graziadei really was the best Bachelor, wasn’t he? Despite the breakups we’ve seen from The Golden Bachelor and Bachelor in Paradise couples, the flagship series is on a bit of a win streak, with Zach Shallcross, Charity Lawson and Joey all remaining with the people they got engaged to on the show. Will they all be able to make it down the aisle? If they all had these kinds of frank conversations with each other beforehand, I have to say I’m optimistic.
Meanwhile, a new love story is about to begin, with Jenn Tran’s season of The Bachelorette premiering on the 2024 TV schedule at 8 p.m. ET Monday, July 8, on ABC and streaming the next day with a Hulu subscription.
