The Dancing With the Stars season 33 semifinals were a monumental night for Joey Graziadei.
Not only did he and partner Jenna Johnson earn their first perfect score and their first 10 for a Latin dance, but Graziadei, 29, made DWTS history by becoming the first former Bachelor to make it to the show’s final.
“It’s unbelievable. … It was a great night,” Graziadei exclusively told Us Weekly after DWTS’ Tuesday, November 19, episode. “We knew we had two dances that we loved and just to have everything come together, to have it kind of be what it was, it’s everything we’ve hoped for. So right now, I’m just really happy.”
While Graziadei said it’s “nice to celebrate” his and Johnson’s accomplishments, he’s already focused on the season finale. “My mind’s just thinking, ‘OK, next week, next week, gotta do it again,’” he said.
Graziadei is one of many Bachelor Nation stars to appear on the ABC competition series over the years. While Bachelorettes such as Hannah Brown and Kaitlyn Bristowe have won the competition, the men of the franchise never made it to the show’s final round — until now.
Graziadei and Johnson, 30, earned a total score of 58 points for their foxtrot and paso doble routines on Tuesday, tying them at the top of the leaderboard with Chandler Kinney and Brandon Armstrong. All five of the show’s remaining couples will compete for the Len Goodman Mirrorball Trophy next week.
Fans first met Graziadei on Charity Lawson’s season 20 of The Bachelorette before he went on to lead season 28 of The Bachelor earlier this year. He ended his journey for love engaged to Kelsey Anderson.
While the couple don’t have a wedding date set just yet, Graziadei has already recruited Johnson to choreograph their first dance. “She already has that title,” he told Us. “It does not take a mirrorball [trophy] to have that title. She has that title for everything she’s done.”
Graziadei is one of two Bachelor Nation stars featured on the current season of DWTS, including Jenn Tran, who was eliminated after last month’s Halloween Nightmares episode. However, fans have begun to campaign for Olympic rugby player Ilona Maher to take on the title of The Bachelorette for the show’s next season.
Graziadei is down with the idea and even gave Maher, 28, a lesson in handing out roses in a hilarious TikTok posted on Sunday, November 17.
“I think Ilona will do great at anything she does. And if she gets that opportunity, I think everyone knows she would crush it,” he told Us on Tuesday. “We’re going to support Ilona in whatever she does moving forward. She’s just the best.”
Johnson, for her part, said that she hopes Maher will find “someone who better love and adore her because she’s the best human ever.”
Graziadei went on to add: “I think that she is one of the most caring people. And it’s just very obvious that when she’s with someone, she’s just with them fully. So yeah, it just has to be a really good person. I don’t have a certain characteristic, but I will kill someone if they ever hurt Ilona. That is for sure.”
Dancing With the Stars airs simultaneously on ABC and Disney+ Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET and streams on Disney+ the next day.
