Joey Graziadei requested a DWTS partner in a ‘successful relationship’ to avoid showmance rumors

‘The Bachelor’ star said he wanted to be in a situation he was ‘comfortable’ with

Dancing with the Stars contestant Joey Graziadei has revealed he asked to be partnered with someone in a “successful and healthy relationship” to avoid showmance rumors.

The former Bachelor star, 29, who is engaged to Kelsey Anderson, is competing on season 33 of ABC’s hit reality dance series alongside professional dancer Jenna Johnson, 30.

During a joint appearance with Johnson on Bachelor Nation’s Ben Higgins and Ashley Laconeti’s Almost Famous podcast, Graziadei addressed speculation about a romance forming between him and Johnson.

“It was something that I thought about coming in,” he said. “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.”

Johnson is married to fellow dance pro and DWTS co-star Val Chmerkovskiy. The couple welcomed their first son, Rome, together in January 2023. Chmerkovskiy is currently partnered with reality star Phaedra Parks.

“As a Bachelor Nation thing, it’s understandable that people are paying attention to my relationship always,” Graziadei acknowledged. “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.”

He added that he wanted to avoid the “noise” of romance rumors that often occur on DWTS, saying: “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.

Jenna Johnson and Joey Graziadei (Disney)

“We understand why it’s happening, but I was also coming in with, ‘Let’s do everything we possibly can to help with it.’”

Despite their attempts to avoid speculation, viewers have still questioned the way Johnson has “touched” Graziadei on the show.

Two weeks ago, Anderson, 26, hit back at critics. “So many people are like, ‘Kelsey, why is Jenna touching your man like that?’ And honestly, I don’t know, maybe because it’s her job?” she in a TikTok video.

“Maybe because she’s a professional dancer and she has to touch him to dance? I don’t know, that’s my understanding of it. I’m just so tired of everyone being like, ‘Kelsey’s so strong, I could not do this, I could not watch this if I was Kelsey.’”

She reflected on her bond with Graziadei, saying: “Joey also has to be the type of man to give me the reassurance that I need and deserve in our relationship. So we are all good in the hood.”

Graziadei and Anderson met on season 28 of The Bachelor, which aired earlier this year. They got engaged during the season finale.