Joey Graziadei will get another shot at love as he stars in the next season of The Bachelor. Graziadei said his experience on The Bachelorette supercharged his longing for love. “I want someone that challenges me,” Graziadei described his ideal partner. “I want someone that I can challenge. I just want someone to do life with. I just want someone that’s going to be my person.”
Joey Graziadei has Italian roots; his parents divorced when he was a child
Joey Graziadei is Italian-American. He was born on 24th May 1995 to Nick Graziadei and Cathy Pagliaro in Collegeville, Pennsylvania. He grew up in Pennsylvania, attending West Chester University before relocating to Hawaii in March 2017. “It’s official,” Graziadei captioned a March 2017 Instagram post. “After graduation I will be moving to Hawaii to be the Head Tennis Pro at Makai.”
On The Bachelorette premiere, Graziadei opened up about his parents’ divorce and its impact on his life. “When I was in kindergarten, my dad came out as gay,” Graziadei said. “It’s made me more loving and accepting. I thought at this age I’d be with someone and I do want a family. This could be the one.”
During an appearance on the Bachelor Happy House podcast, Graziadei stated that it was difficult to understand his parents’ split but praised them for being ‘amazing co-parents’. “My family is an extremely loving family,” Graziadei said. “The fact that that didn’t work out doesn’t take away from romance for me.”
Graziadei shared that he shares a close bond with his dad, who allowed Graziadei to talk about his sexuality on television. “[He] trusted me on how I would talk about it, and it would be shared in the right light,” the next Bachelor said. Joey continued:
“My dad is one of my favorite people in this world, and I talk to him about everything. So when explaining who he is as a person, it’s part of him, and it’s something that needs to be talked about more and not so refrained from or worried to talk about. It just felt like the right moment at that time.”
Given Graziadei’s close relationship with his father, fans were surprised he and his partner didn’t feature in the hometown episode. “You telling me Joey has 2 gay dads but they brought in uncle MAGA,” a displeased fan tweeted.