'Bachelor' Joey Graziadei Made A Major Life Change Before Filming Started
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
Tennis pro Joey Graziadei wants his search for a wife to end in love-love. And the 28th Bachelor is well on his way to finding a doubles partner for life in two back-to-back episodes this week. (It's the perfect Galentine's Day gift, right?!)
Bachelor Nation first fell in love with Joey’s charming personality during Charity Lawson’s season of The Bachelorette (he placed second), and the world is now watching him take his time in the spotlight as the show’s newest leading man.
“I'll be the first person to say this is wild,” Joey said on the After the Final Rose special when his new role was announced. “I never expected this at all, didn’t know this is what my life is turning at this moment.”
On his journey toward everlasting love, Joey has already eliminated scores of women from contention as the season has gone on, and he’s not done yet. Tonight, fans will see part two of his epic journey to Malta, where the drama between Maria Georgas and the other ladies is only getting started.
If you didn’t watch Charity’s season, or maybe you're just a little rusty on who, exactly, Joey is, here’s a full rundown on this handsome, charismatic new lead:
Who is Joey Graziadei?
The first thing you should know is that Joey is a major fan favorite from Charity’s season. He and Charity had an easy-going relationship and it looked like he was the frontrunner for a long time. The two exchanged “I love yous” during their Fantasy Suite date, and he seemed confident about their relationship, saying afterward, “I can do that for the rest of my life for sure.”
But Charity ultimately decided to accept Dotun Olubeko's proposal, dumping Joey during the finale. Womp womp. Charity even admitted during the breakup that it was hard to let him going, adding, “I am in love with you.”
So, while the Bachelorette found her happily-ever-after, Joey was left pretty heartbroken. But he's still on the hunt for love. After the breakup, Joey told producers: “I want love bad. I think it’s just showing me how badly I want to be with someone else and get an opportunity to share life with them because that’s all I can think of. I just want to ask the universe, when is it going to happen to me?”
During ATFR Joey explained he wants “someone that’s just themselves that I can truthfully be a partner with. I want someone that challenges me. I want someone that I can challenge. I just want someone to do life with. I just want someone that's going to be my person."
How old is Joey?
Joey is 28 now, but he was 27 when he was cast on Charity's season of The Bachelorette, according to his ABC bio. The new lead is also a Gemini; He was born on May 24, 1995. So, if you're into star signs, you can figure out who his perfect match might be.
He grew up 30 minutes outside of Philadelphia.
Before becoming the kind of man who ends up dating 32 women at once, Joey grew up in Collegeville, a town just 30 miles outside of Philly, per The Philadelphia Inquirer.
If you watched his hometown date with Charity (which ended in tears), you got to see a glimpse of the suburbs he grew up in. But Joey told the publication that his season of The Bachelor will feature more of his hometown. In fact, three contestants are from Philadelphia, too. In fact, LOVE Park and the Collegeville Italian Bakery are two famous spots that will appear this season, per The Philadelphia Inquirer.
“The bakery had this sign that said ‘Find your jawn,” and I just loved explaining what that meant to everyone,” he told the pub.
How tall is Joey?
ABC doesn’t take measurements on contestants or anything, but Joey’s West Chester University tennis bio lists him as being 5 feet 11 inches.
He went to West Chester University.
According to an athletics page from the school, Joey was on the tennis team there from 2016 to 2017. He majored in communications and media studies, per a local news outlet. There, he was also a member of the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity, according to the organization. Joey graduated in 2017, and eventually moved to Hawaii.
Joey shared a photo from his graduation day and captioned it, “Another one for your timeline #oldandirrelevant.” I'd have to argue that you are none of those things, Joey!
What does Joey do for a living?
Joey is a tennis pro! (He actually says he’s a “teaching tennis professional” in his Instagram bio.) He sweetly played with Charity during his hometown date and even said that her forehand “has potential.” Awww.
But it seems he wasn't always a tennis pro. A local outlet reported that Joey had "a small stint in the corporate world," working in Tennessee as a sales representative before he "realized it wasn’t for him."
He's a big family guy.
This guy is very excited to have a family of his own one day, and he knows how precious family can be. On the "Bachelor Happy Hour" podcast Joey shared that his father came out to him as gay after his parents broke up, per Today.
“My parents split when I was pretty young. I wouldn’t say it was easy. But my family is just an extremely loving family,” he told the podcast. “And both my parents were amazing co-parents, so the fact that that didn’t work out doesn’t take away from romance for me.”
Joey seems pretty close with his two sisters, too. On January 15, his older sister, Carly Monzo, shared a series of throwback photos of the two of them on her Instagram in anticipation of his season airing.
“My baby brother. Words will truly never be able to express how proud I am of you and the man you have become. Being your big sister is one of my greatest treasures in life. I can’t wait for the world to follow along for the journey of a lifetime. One more week!!!!! Eeek. Love you the most, always. 🤍," she wrote.
Joey also has a younger sister, Eleanor, and Joey posted this sweet pic of them wearing matching jean jackets. “Miss Eleanor in Nash 🤠,” he wrote.
In May 2019, he posted this series of photos to his IG after Eleanor graduated from Palm Beach Atlantic University. “Letsssgooooo graduate! Congrats El, I love you 💚👩🏻🎓,” he captioned the post.
Supportive big brother? Check.
He’s close with both of his parents
Joey told US Weekly that becoming the Bachelor made his family closer than ever before. “They’ve been so supportive. I’m so lucky to have my family through this,” he said. “I think that one of the most beautiful things about this show is how it’s brought my family closer together. They just have been in my corner.”
In July 2023, during his appearance on the “Bachelor Happy Hour” podcast, Joey said his father, Nick Graziadei, is one of his “favorite people in the world,” adding, “I talk to him about everything.”
On January 16, Joey shared that his mom, Cathay Pagliaro, grew up in the Green Bay Area, which is why he’s such a big Green Bay Packers fan. He posted a throwback pic of himself in a Packers jersey followed by snaps he took from a game he attended recently.
“Been a Packers Fan my whole life since my Mom’s side of the family grew up in Green Bay Area 🧀 To be able to see them win a playoff game yesterday in Dallas was surreal. Exciting to see what this team can do for the rest of the playoffs! #GoPackGo #NextStopSantaClara,” he wrote in the caption.
He made a major move right before The Bachelor.
At the beginning of the season, Joey revealed that he recently moved back to his home state of Pennsylvania from Hawaii. “I decided to move back to the Philadelphia area to be closer to family and friends,” he shared. (This is bad news for at least two of the ladies, Lea and Rachel, who once shared Joey’s Hawaiian zip code.)
Speaking of Joey's family, he recently shared some cute photos of them celebrating the holidays together—including a family outing to a Philadelphia Eagles game, of course.
He loves outdoor activities.
Joey is a big outdoorsy guy. He’ll partake in star gazing, golfing, hiking, finding waterfalls, surfing and more, according to Today. Will the lady he gives his final rose to share his love for exploring and adventure?
He has a one big “red flag."
Joey told Fox News Digital that he’s “not a big red flags guy,” however, he admitted that he can’t date someone who is self-obsessed.
“If it seems like they are thinking about themselves the whole time, I can try to understand it, he said. “I could try to learn more about them, but when it gets to the point that just seems like they’re not going to put anyone above themselves at any moment, that gets tough.”
The Bachelor explained that there are times where everyone should be selfish and put themselves first, “but I think, in general, if I see that you’re a little bit too self-centered, that’s a pretty big red flag for me,” he told the pub.
As to what gives him the “ick,” it’s when someone chews with their mouth open. “It’s my biggest pet peeve. I get caught sometimes, but I’ll try to put my hand over my mouth or something.” He added, “If you’re just blatantly spewing out and talking when you’re eating, I have trouble with that,” he told The Philadelphia Inquirer.
Which contestant does he end up with?
Spoiler! After a long season of the ups and downs of dating so many women, Joey ends up choosing Daisy Kent, according to Reality Steve.
You can catch more details and spoilers for Joey's season here before the show airs tonight.
You Might Also Like
