Joey Graziadei is opening up about what got him to sign on to his ultimately successful run on Dancing With the Stars – and it was a fellow Bachelor Nation alum.
The Season 28 Bachelor star had the “experience of a lifetime” on the 33rd season of the ABC dance show, winning the Mirrorball in the end.
And while he also admitted lost a lot of weight quickly while on the show, he has already teamed up with partner Jenna Johnson again for a new project.
But, all of that may not have happened, if he hadn’t talked to other Bachelor nation alums who have been on the show previously.
Appearing on an episode of the Bachelor Happy Hour podcast, Joey admitted that the show’s host, Joe Amabile, helped convince him to do the show.
“I was worried about how it was going to be and if I was going to even be able to perform and enjoy it. I was worried about putting myself out there, and you gave me the confidence,” Joey said on the episode.
“You were like, ‘I sucked, and it was still so much fun,” he added. “So that made me feel like I should do it regardless of what was going to happen. You gave me all the confidence in the world that it was a good idea, even if I was going to be very, very bad at it.”
He also admitted that speaking to his ex, Charity Lawson, also helped, as she had done the show the season before.
However, Amabile was perhaps the best person to give Joey advice, as he had previously been the only male Bachelor franchise alum to place far in the competition, taking fifth place on Season 27.
He managed to go further than any Bachelor lead had, and like Joey, also danced with Jenna.
Joey managed to shatter his record and make history, becoming the first Bachelor man to make it to the final and win.
Prior to that, only Bachelorettes had made it to the finales, with two former leads, Hannah Brown and Kaitlyn Bristowe, winning back-to-back in Seasons 28 and 29.
Since then, Gabby Windey took second Season 31 and Charity placed fourth in Season 32. Jenn Tran, the most recent Bachelorette, also competed on Season 33 with Joey, placing seventh.
