February 19, 2024
During Monday's episode of "The Bachelor," Joey Graziadei opened up about some of the fears and insecurities that he feels as the lead of the ABC dating show while continuing to narrow down his group of eligible bachelorettes.
The sixth episode of Season 28 brought the cast to Montreal, Canada, where Montgomery County-native Graziadei went on a pair of one-on-one dates and a group date. The number of contestants dwindled from 10 to 6, as one of the ladies made the shocking decision to leave and Graziadei made some tough choices of his own.
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Here are some of the highlights from the latest episode:
(Spoilers ahead)
Despite the vibrant fall foliage of Montreal and the promise of another week exploring his relationships with the remaining women, Graziadei is feeling somber at the beginning of the episode. He's dealing with the nagging feeling that "The Bachelor" process won't work out for him.
In a rare moment of candor, Graziadei — who has spent much of the season comforting the contestants as they open up to him — opens up about how he is feeling.
"I know the feelings are getting stronger, I know they're real, but I'm falling for multiple women and it scares me," Graziadei says in an interview.
"I'm finding myself holding back in some ways, and I don't like it. I don't want to. There are some women here that I'm scared to death would go home if I started to share how I'm feeling and they didn't feel it the same way and they had this realization that it wasn't right. I think the fear comes from me being scared that this isn't gonna end up working out for some reason."
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— Bachelor Nation (@bachnation) February 19, 2024
He recalls the last time he really opened up with someone, when he dated Charity Lawson during her season of "The Bachelorette." Graziadei finished second, as Lawson chose to get engaged to someone else, and he recalls feeling lost and heartbroken after that process.
"So when I think about letting multiple women in, knowing that it might not work out, it holds me back," Graziadei says. "I'm trying to do my best to express how I feel and show who I am. It's hard to do that while also trying to be fun and be more light, and sometimes that's just not me. ... I just feel like sometimes people expect you to be a certain way, and it's just like, is it really me?
"Most of my life, I've been struggling with the fact that I don't feel perfect. I feel like there's a lot that's wrong with me. ... I've always been my biggest critic, and I'm afraid of someone not accepting me for me."
Graziadei's tendency to try to please others was a topic during his time on "The Bachelorette." His uncle warned Lawson that Graziadei sometimes tries to be a version of himself that he thinks other people want.
Graziadei shakes off the sadness a bit when he heads on a group date with eight ladies. It turns out to be a scavenger hunt through Montreal. On the date, Graziadei and the contestants pick out souvenirs, learn French phrases and learn how to make poutine at the favorite restaurant of host Jesse Palmer, who is originally from Canada.
While the premise of the date is lighthearted enough, jealousy arises between some of the contestants, who do not enjoy seeing their boyfriend connecting with other women. The mood steadily declines as the bachelorettes compete to stand out and earn Graziadei's attention. At one point, as the ladies inexplicably link hands and dance in a circle around Graziadei, contestant Kelsey Anderson jokes that the scene gives off "culty" vibes.
The tension continues into the evening, as Graziadei notices a general sadness permeating the room. He decides to open up to the contestants, letting them know about his insecurities and how he hopes they can each dig deeper in their relationships.
Multiple women heed Graziadei's urges to dig deeper. Lexi Young wants to figure out what a future looks like with Graziadei, and asks him about his timeline for marriage and kids. Graziadei replies that he will probably want a 2-3 year engagement followed by a couple years of marriage before having kids. This proposed timeline becomes a point of contention for Young later in the episode.
Jess Edwards tells Graziadei that she's falling in love with him, but Graziadei's response is less-than-joyful. He reveals that he doesn't feel the same way, and sends Edwards home right then and there.
"I feel terrible right now," Graziadei says during an interview. "No one should give as much as she was trying to give and it not be reciprocated. This is my fear. What happened to Jess is something that I'm afraid is gonna happen to me, something that has happened to me in the past before — where you start to let someone in and you feel like there's gonna be something that's there, and then it just isn't."
Anderson and Jenn Tran also reveal to Graziadei that they're falling in love with him, and his response to them is much more positive. Pleased with the way that Tran always makes him feel special in the little moments, he awards her the group date rose.
For his first one-on-one date in Montreal, Graziadei selects Kelsey Toussant, a 31-year-old actor from Los Angeles. The couple attend a Cirque du Soleil-style training session, where they contend with various trampolines, harnesses, spinning hoops and bungee cords.
Graziadei experiences dizziness and lightheadedness from all of the spinning, but Toussant offers him comfort and encouragement.
"I feel like I need a Dramamine," Graziadei half-jokes after all the acrobatics.
At the evening portion of the date, Toussant, who says her feelings for Graziadei are deepening, opens up about her difficult relationship with her father. She says she grew up super close to her dad, but was shunned by him because she chose not to be part of the same religion that he was involved with. Toussant says she has had trouble trusting men ever since her relationship with her dad fell apart, but that she and her father are slowly trying to build their relationship back up.
"Sometimes the toughest things that happen in your life define who you are and can be learning experiences," Graziadei says of Toussant. "And she has this sense about her that she has been through a lot, but also that she is super strong, super independent, very grown. I feel so connected and bonded with her and it continues to get stronger each time I'm with her."
Toussant says she can see herself falling for Graziadei. She receives a rose at the end of the date.
Graziadei invites Maria Georgas, a 29-year-old executive assistant from Ontario, on the other one-on-one date in Montreal. Graziadei pulls up in a white limo to pick up Georgas for their date, which turns out to be a lavish shopping spree.
As the pair ride in the limo, they joke around as Georgas tries to teach Graziadei some French phrases. Graziadei says he appreciates how all his problems melt away when he's with Georgas, because they don't take anything too seriously when they're together.
"With Maria, it just feels natural," Graziadei tells the camera. "I'm not really trying to overthink it too much, 'cause that's what the beauty of Maria and my relationship has been."
At the boutique, Georgas is instructed to choose any dress that she would like. After trying on and modeling a variety of colorful and shimmery options, she and Graziadei pick out a sparkly gold number.
Graziadei and Georgas end the day by walking a red carpet into a helicopter, which takes them for a romantic ride over Montreal. Later, Georgas tells Graziadei that she's falling for him, and also opens up about her ex, who didn't follow through on promises to propose. The pair then enjoy a private concert by Canadian singer Feist.
"Can I fall for him? I think I already am, and it scares me," Georgas says about Graziadei during an interview.
Georgas tells Graziadei that she's falling for him and he gives her a rose, which he says symbolizes that he can see a future with her. By the end of the date, Graziadei is once again feeling confident that this process can help him find his future wife.
During an episode last week, Graziadei and Young went on a romantic one-on-one date spent exploring Malta. On the date, Young told Graziadei about her battle with stage 5 endometriosis. Doctors told Young that the reproductive condition may make it difficult for her to have her own children.
While Graziadei said he was not scared at all about Young's possible fertility issues, Young realizes in the latest episode that she and Graziadei may be on different paths. Young says that given her health situation, she does not want to waste time when it comes to starting a family. In her view, this doesn't align with Graziadei's projected plans of waiting a few years for marriage and kids. Young visits Graziadei's hotel room to tell him how she feels.
"I can sincerely say that I felt so heard and respected and you made me feel like a whole person," Young says of their conversation about her condition in Malta. "I've never felt that way in a relationship before. I feel like I hadn't opened up to anyone else about my health and what having a family would look like to me, and I will forever remember that conversation.
"But as someone who has infertility, I have to take that really seriously as I date, knowing I'm in my 30s now. And that's just something that is gonna have to happen probably at a little bit of a faster pace for me. And I think it'd be unfair to keep me here when I'm just on a different timeline."
Graziadei is "stunned" and "crushed" that Young is leaving, since he thought they would have more time to further the conversation about marriage and kids in the coming weeks, but he respects her decision to self-eliminate.
"This isn't what I had in my head or what I thought was gonna happen," Graziadei tells Young. "But you're gonna get everything that you want and you're gonna make a remarkable mother."
Before the rose ceremony, Graziadei spends time at the cocktail party continuing to forge his relationships. He gives Daisy Kent a foot massage, receives an impromptu piano lesson from Tran and receives validation from Rachel Nance, who seeks to comfort him after the insecurities he's expressed this week.
"So many women said nice things to me," Graziadei says, noting that it's been a successful week overall despite the rocky start.
At the rose ceremony, Graziadei eliminates Katelyn DeBacker and Lea Cayanan. Upon Graziadei sending her home, Cayanan tells cameras that it is "truly his loss." Cayanan, who was one of the first contestants to meet Graziadei during "The Bachelorette: After the Final Rose" special, found herself at the center of the drama over the past few episodes amid a feud involving Georgas.
Before that, Cayanan had the reputation of a "girls' girl" since she destroyed a card that would have given her the opportunity to steal another woman's one-on-one date. As Cayanan sits in the back of the limo after being eliminated, producers ask whether she has any regrets — possibly referring to the drama or to the destroyed card — and she simply breaks down into tears.
With Young and Edwards already gone, the latest eliminations bring the number of contestants down to six. In the next episode, the cast heads to Jasper, a town in the Alberta province located amid the Canadian Rockies, to continue the romance.
"The Bachelor" airs Mondays at 8 p.m. on ABC.
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