Former “The Bachelor” star Joey Graziadei is hoping to do something on “Dancing with the Stars” that no other guy from Bachelor Nation has done before. Graziadei is knocking it out of the park already on season 33 with his partner, Jenna Johnson, and he has lofty goals.
During an appearance on “The Bachelorette” star Jason Tartick’s “Trading Secrets” podcast, Graziadei talked about where he has set his sights in his DWTS journey.
Joey Graziadei Wants to Finish Better Than Previous ‘Bachelor’ Leads
Graziadei joined Tartick for the September 5 episode of “Trading Secrets.” He noted his focus for “Dancing with the Stars” was on “trying to be a good guy dancer in comparison to other guys that have been in the past from Bachelor Nation.”
He noted that no Bachelor Nation male “Dancing with the Stars” contestant has ever made it to the finale. He wants to be the first. “That was already kind of a mini goal that I wanted” to aim for, he shared.
Tartick pulled up the statistics on how Bachelor Nation men have done on “Dancing with the Stars” in the past. He noted the guys, on average, finished in seventh place.
As Tartick noted, there are six guys from “The Bachelor” who have done the show previously. The list includes Jake Pavelka, Chris Soules, Nick Viall, Sean Lowe, Joe Amabile, and Matt James.
Graziadei said he thinks his odds of topping the average and making it to at least sixth place are pretty good. He suggested that before the season 33 premiere even aired.
Tartick noted that Pavelka finished in fifth place, as did Soules. Lowe and Viall both finished in sixth place. Amabile hung up his dancing shoes in eighth place, and James was out the earliest in 12th place.
As Tartick pointed out, Bachelor Nation ladies have a history of doing better than their counterparts on “Dancing with the Stars.”
As Us Weekly noted, both Hannah Brown and Kaitlyn Bristowe won their “Dancing with the Stars” seasons, as did Melissa Rycroft during the “All-Stars” season.
In addition, Gabby Windey finished in second place, and Charity Lawson made the finals. Trista Sutter competed on season 1 of the show and was the first one eliminated.
Graziadei Shared His Strengths in Tackling DWTS
Graziadei believes his “biggest two strengths” heading into the competition come from his tennis experience. He noted, “You got to be light on your feet, you got to be able to move around…that’s going to help.”
In addition, Graziadei said he believes his experience as a teaching tennis professional is a big asset. “When you’re a coach you also usually are a pretty good student because you understand how someone’s trying to teach you, you’re a little bit more receptive,” he explained.
While Graziadei hopes to outperform his fellow “Bachelor” stars, he also is intent on having fun. He admitted he’s not usually “the type of person that’s confident enough to go rip a dance move in the middle of a dance floor.”
Despite some reservations on that front, Graziadei is well on his way to accomplishing his “mini goal.”
After the premiere, the Instagram account Bachelor Data noted that Graziadei’s score was the best of any former “Bachelor” star. Graziadei received sevens from all three judges. All of the previous men received scores ranging from four to seven from each judge.
So far, Graziadei seems well on his way to finishing better than any former “Bachelor” leads. As Entertainment Weekly noted, Graziadei and Johnson earned the first nines of season 33 during the episode that aired on October 7.
