Victory is sweet, but relationship security is sweeter.
Joey Graziadei knows just how precious it really is after his experience on Dancing With the Stars. The former Bachelor lead went straight from proposing to Kelsey Anderson on the season 28 finale to competing with pro Jenna Johnson on DWTS‘ 33rd season. Even though he was clear in his request to be partnered with a married pro in a “healthy relationship” to avoid showmance rumors, Graziadei says fans still pester him and Johnson months after they took home the mirrorball trophy.
“The hardest part is, she could be so confident in something. I could be so confident in something, [but] when there’s enough comments…” Graziadei told fellow DWTS alum Harry Jowsey on a recent episode of his Boyfriend Material podcast. “She could be posting a get ready with me video and they’ll just post something random under it that has nothing to do with it. They’ll be like, ‘Can’t believe Joey was doing this on Dancing with the Stars. So it’s more just that some people are a little over the top.”
Michael Buckner/Variety via Getty
Joey Graziadei with fiancée Kelsey Anderson in Los Angeles in 2025
Graziadei said he’s particularly baffled by enduring fan speculation over he and Johnson’s non-relationship because of “the fact that your job on the show is to be connected and have chemistry with your partner.”
“That is literally what you’re supposed to do every week is to perform and show that you can move together in unison. Like that is the idea of what the show,” he explained.
The 30-year-old reality star called the inevitable influx of showmance rumors “the only reason why I was afraid to do Dancing with the Stars,” calling out “an audience there that tries to ship couples or find a way to mess with [them].” Graziadei echoed comments he originally made in October, when he revealed he specifically asked DWTS producers to pair him with a pro in a “successful and healthy relationship,” which is how he wound up dancing opposite Johnson, who is married to another of the show’s pros, Val Chmerkovskiy.
Graziadei said he breathed a sigh of relief after being paired with Johnson, thinking to himself, “There’s no way anyone’s going to say a thing. Like, they’re married! He’s watching us dance! He’s teaching me what to do with his wife! How could there be anything? Well, there’s still people that have opinions and they’re still find a way.”
It doesn’t help that Dancing With the Stars has a lengthy rap sheet of producing not just pro-pro couples like Johnson and Chmerkovskiy, but celebrity-pro couples. Season 33 alone heralded the (brief) unions of Gleb Savchenko and Brooks Nader, as well as Sasha Farber and Jenn Tran.
Sign up for Entertainment Weekly‘s free daily newsletter to get breaking TV news, exclusive first looks, recaps, reviews, interviews with your favorite stars, and more.
“Anytime someone tries to come after our relationship, it’s hard,” Graziadei reflected. But after accepting that, he and Anderson are able to “look back on all of it now like, if we can get through that, we can get through anything. If you have that many people that are coming at you trying to mess with stuff, then it’s like, ‘Well, we’re going to be fine.'”
You can watch the rest of Graziadei’s interview with Jowsey on Boyfriend Material above.
Read the original article on Entertainment Weekly
