Bachelor Joey Graziadei asked for a DWTS partner in a ‘healthy relationship’ to avoid showmance rumors
Joey Graziadei was well aware that audiences have a hard time separating The Bachelor franchise from Dancing With the Stars when it comes to onscreen chemistry.
So much so that he specifically requested producers pair him with a pro dancer in a “successful and healthy relationship,” which is how he ended up with Jenna Johnson, who is married to fellow pro Val Chmerkovskiy. “It was something that I thought about coming in,” Graziadei revealed while appearing with Johnson on The Ben and Ashley I Almost Famous podcast. “I said I wanted to be in a situation that I was comfortable, that I didn’t have to worry about a lot of this noise, so I asked when I got on the show to be paired with someone that was in a successful and healthy relationship.”
“I didn’t want there to be any chance of noise with this, because I know that comes with the show and the territory sometimes,” he continued. “And I was in such a great place in my life with everything that Kelsey and I have built that I didn’t want to have a distraction. So, we understand why it’s happening, but I was also coming in with ‘Let’s do everything we possibly can to help with it.'”
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Still, Graziadei isn’t surprised that people have speculated about the chemistry between him and Johnson on the dance floor. Just disappointed. “As a Bachelor Nation thing, it’s understandable that people are paying attention to my relationship always,” he added. “It was something that Kelsey and I talked about and made sure before doing this, that she was comfortable with putting that into the world again.”
“I think we were more surprised that people couldn’t step away and understand the situation of the relationship that I was in, the relationship Jenna was in,” he continued. “We were kind of hoping people would be a little bit more aware of that. But we weren’t necessarily surprised. I think it was more just trying to have this conversation that it’s not something you really need to be focusing on. We want to be able to connect and have what we have on the dance floor and have this friendship and trust with each other without this assumption of something that we would never be doing.”
Johnson also chimed in, noting that it’s something at least one duo on the show contends with every year. However, she’s still been frustrated by people’s inability to understand that both she and Graziadei are in happy, committed relationships with other people.
“I’ve been on the show for awhile,” Johnson said. “So has my husband. We’ve been paired with the opposite sexes. I’ve been paired with a girl. People were assuming things were happening with us. It just kind of comes with the show.”
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“I won’t say unfortunately,” she added. “I love that people are that invested and feel like they’re part of your partnerships. I knew that this would probably happen, especially with the franchise he comes from. But I think it’s pretty obvious that my relationship is known on the show. I have a child. My husband’s on the show as well. I thought people would obviously know that Joey’s engaged. There’s disappointment when we’re so excited about being announced on Good Morning America finally, and there’s just like all these comments, that are like, ‘Why does it have to be that initially?'”
Both Johnson and Graziadei also commented that many of the showmance rumors have died down now that the show is in full swing. “It’s gotten so much better,” Johnson said. “Kelsey is incredible. she’s been so supportive during this whole experience. Obviously my husband loves Joey and is so supportive. But it comes with the territory of this show and there’s always going to be chatter, and once you get past the initial shock of it, of seeing these two people together, then they forget about it and just get invested in our dancing.”
Graziadei is optimistic that fans can stop the majorly off-base chatter and instead focus on the work he and Johnson are doing as dancers. “We’re in probably the best spot now with Kelsey being more vocal, with us trying to do everything we can to have people settle down,” he concluded. “Hopefully, we can just get to enjoying and having fun and focusing on our dances each week now.”
So far, Graziadei and Johnson have been in the top-half of the pack, earning a combined 43 points across the first two weeks of competition.
