SPOILER ALERT! This post contains details from The Bachelor: Women Tell All. A Q&A with Joey is below.
A potential engagement is just around the corner for Season 28 Bachelor Joey Graziadei — and there’s still so many questions to be answered.
What is Kelsey’s note all about? Who gets sent home after fantasy suites? Why is Joey crying during proposals?
Well, Monday’s Women Tell All gives us the answers to two out of three of those (we’ll have to wait one more week to get an answer on the tears at his presumed engagement).
But first, the women get to dish on the good, the bad, and the ugly from Season 28. Let’s just get this out of the way right now, the women had nothing but positive things to say about Joey. However, the same can’t be said for what they had to say about each other.
The episode doesn’t waste any time diving deep into basically everyone’s beef with Maria. As it turns out, Sydney, Lea and Jess are the minority in the house. Almost everyone else appears to have taken Maria’s side.
Remember, it all started with Madina being insecure about her age, and Sydney eventually co-opted Madina’s anger and turned it into her own. When Sydney got sent home, Lea told Madina she shouldn’t be so nice to Maria, which was when Madina started to change her tune. Somehow, Jess also got involved and yelled at Maria for spending time with Joey when she already had a rose.
The women really had it out on stage, but after a lengthy back-and-forth, they ended on good terms. Maria even gave Lea and Sydney a hug and apologized for the part she played in all the drama. Oh, and to set the record straight, Lauren admitted to being the one to tell Lea to “shut the f*ck up.” During Maria’s hot seat, Sydney apologizes to her as well and says she should have been more “solution-oriented” instead of attacking Maria.
Finally, we saw Joey meet Kelsey to address her note that said “we need to talk.” Joey was really worried about what could be wrong, only to find out that Kelsey just wanted to reassure him about their day and say that she’s so excited to meet his family. As relieving as it is that nothing is wrong, Joey also seems a bit frustrated at how the conversation was framed, because he worried for nothing.
The episode ends with a rose ceremony, and Joey sends Rachel home. The pair have an emotional reunion on stage at the Women Tell All where they seem to find some closure.
That’s all for now, folks. Below, Joey spoke with Deadline about all things WTA ahead of next week’s finale.
DEADLINE: How are you feeling after all of that?
JOEY GRAZIADEI: I’m feeling pretty good. I did have nerves coming in. I was surprised how worried I was about how everything would be. But there was a lot of appreciation and gratitude being passed around. I think that they all are grateful for the experience, I didn’t feel a lot of bad blood, which was really good to hear. I also think that I was able to have further conversations with people than I was hoping to.
DEADLINE: Were there any specific conversations you were nervous to have or people you weren’t sure about seeing?
GRAZIADEI: If we want to be honest and go in order, the last couple of people, the people that were there the longest — Rachel, Maria, Kelsey T, Jen — the people that were there so long, and then you have those tougher goodbyes. Those were always gonna be the ones that I was most nervous for.
DEADLINE: Which conversation do you think went the best?
GRAZIADEI: The one I got the most closure with was probably Rachel, because she had that time to have that hot seat with me, and we got to sit next to each other. I truly wish I could have got that with each of the women, because I think they all deserve to have that space. But for tonight, I think Rachel was the one that I got the most closure with. I think they also all know if they want to ever reach out or talk to me more, I’m never going to shy away from that, because I want them to feel good about this and know that I do care for them and wish them the best.
DEADLINE: You were really shaken up after that conversation with Kelsey A. What was going through your mind when you found out that she just wanted to tell you she missed you?
GRAZIADEI: So I mean, you saw raw emotions. I think [when] anyone uses the words ‘we need to talk,’ you’re gonna be worried. So for me, I initially was thinking the worst. And then obviously, when we sat down…I realized that she just wanted to give more affirmation of how great the day was, how much she missed me and how much she wants to meet my family. So after that happened, I was able to leave it, but I think you also can see immediately after sometimes it takes me some time to process it, because there was a lot of real raw emotions that I was feeling. So in time, I was able to be okay with it. But it took a little bit for sure.
DEADLINE: You mentioned that you really liked watching your season back to see what you missed when you weren’t around. Is there anything particular you really loved to see?
GRAZIADEI: I think it’s the banter between the girls. To see some of the friendships… grow. To see them uplifting one another in different moments. Obviously people like to focus on the drama, but there was a lot of love between the girls too. So the thing I love seeing the most was them uplifting one another for sure.
DEADLINE: In the teaser for the finale, you mention that you had a hard time thinking someone would really choose you. That’s pretty heavy. How did you handle that while filming?
GRAZIADEI: I never want to do assume. I think everyone always guesses and thinks, ‘You’re The Bachelor. You choose them. You’re in that lucky position.’ But it’s as big of a choice for them as it is for me. So dealing with that was always hard. It came from my own insecurities from past relationships, things that I doubted, my own confidence, and hoping someone would choose me one day. But I had a great team. I had a lot of people to talk through and gain trust. You can’t really control that. All you can do is lead with your heart and hope that someone will choose you. I think that’s the best part about this finale, people are gonna have to tune in and see what happens.
DEADLINE: Speaking of the finale, what are you nervous or excited for audiences to see?
GRAZIADEI: I’m definitely excited for this to finally come to a close and to have everyone know how everything was. I think I’m always nervous to see me, as a grown man, crying on TV. I think anyone’s gonna be nervous about that one.