‘I’m open’: ‘DWTS’ and ‘Bachelor’ star Joey Graziadei reveals which other competition shows are on his radar

Living in Hawaii and working as a tennis professional — after graduating from West Chester University in 2017 — Joey Graziadei seemingly had a happy, ordinary life before delving into the reality television world.

Joining The Bachelorette season 20 — to fight for the heart of the beautiful Charity Lawson, of course — Joey ultimately found himself unlucky in love, falling short to Dotun Olubeko in the end. Despite finishing the show in second place, the Pennsylvania native became an obvious fan favorite, subsequently securing his stint as the lead of The Bachelor season 28 where he met his now-fiancée: Kelsey Anderson.

His time on our television screens did not end there, though, because shortly after The Bachelor season 28 came to a close, Joey joined the star-studded cast of Dancing With the Stars season 33 as well. Partnered with the one and only Jenna Johnson, his scores were impressive (to say the least), indicated below.

• DWTS Premiere — Cha Cha to Tyler Hubbard’s “Dancin’ In The Country” (21/30)
• “Oscars Night” — Rumba to Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper’s “Shallow” from A Star Is Born (22/30)
• “Soul Train Night” — Jive to The Isley Brothers’ “Shout” (34/40)
• “Hair Metal Night” — Tango to Scorpions’ “Rock You Like A Hurricane” (36/40)
• “Dedication Night” — Viennese Waltz to Teddy Swims’ “Lose Control” (36/40)
• “Disney Night” — Samba to “Trashin’ The Camp” from Tarzan (25/30)
• “Halloween Nightmares Night” — Argentine Tango to “Ramalama (Bang Bang)” by Róisín Murphy (29/30)
• DWTS 500th Episode — Contemporary to “Work Song” by Hozier (28/30)
• DWTS Semi-Final — Foxtrot to “I Won’t Dance” by Erin Boheme and District 78 (30/30) and Paso Doble to “Come Together” by Lennon & McCartney (28/30)
• DWTS Finale — Cha-Cha to “Can’t Stop the Feeling!” by Justin Timberlake (30/30) and Freestyle to “Canned Heat” by District 78 and Jake Simpson (29/30)

Although they did not receive a perfect score on their tennis-themed freestyle routine — much to the dismay of the Chmerkovskiy brothers — Joey and Jenna emerged victorious nevertheless, with the 29-year-old becoming the first male from Bachelor Nation to take home the coveted Len Goodman Mirrorball Trophy.

With three shows under his belt, Joey’s supporters are left with just one question for the Dancing With the Stars, Bachelor, and Bachelorette star: What’s next?

Sitting down with Joe Vulpis for an episode of the Lightweights podcast, the Len Goodman Mirrorball Trophy recipient dished, “I can’t even put my brain on what would be next, but I have been someone that’s always been open and excited about new opportunities when they come.” The pair then spitballed some ideas back-and-forth, bringing The Traitors, Survivor, and Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test to the table. Keep scrolling for everything Joey and Joe had to say.

Kicking off the conversation, Joey mentioned The Traitors, sharing that it has been suggested to him quite a bit, likely due to the number of Bachelor Nation members who have been a part of the show in the past: Peter Weber, Wells Adams, Gabby Windey, and more.”I think what it is, is there is a usual funnel of people that come from Bachelor Nation and they’ve paved the way and they’ve done these other shows, right? So, when you hear that, those are the first that come to your brain,” he explained, but according to the Bachelor Nation member himself, he has “never been a big reality TV guy.” Joey continued:

“I don’t know a lot about all these different TV shows, especially these competition shows. I think the only one I knew a lot about when I was growing up was Survivor… My mom watched, and I’ve had a resurgence cause one of my buddies loves it, and I’ve watched it a lot. That would be another crazy one to challenge yourself and to see how you would do, but I don’t think anyone from Bachelor Nation has tried even doing that.”

Despite being a massive Survivor fan, Joey admitted that he is unsure whether being a part of the Emmy Award-winning series would even be a possibility, as he has “stayed under the ABC umbrella” exclusively. Who knows what the future holds, though…

Speaking of Bachelor Nation members who have “paved the way,” Hannah Brown, Tyler Cameron, Nick Viall, and more have been a part of Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test, a show that Joe reccommended to Joey. When asked whether or not he would give it a try, the Pennsylvania native admitted that he would to test himself and his abilities, prior to delving into the details:

“I think no one goes into that being like, ‘This is going to be awesome,’ because it’s such a mental test, but I love that kind of stuff. It’s one of the things I’ve loved about Dancing [With the Stars] — all these people are so uncomfortable, and they’re doing something outside of their comfort zone, testing not only their physical ability, but their mental ability to go and perform. This would be a completely different way to do it, but it would still be a way of testing yourself.”

Despite being open to Special Forces, Joey is unsure how he would do on such a high-stakes show, concluding the conversation by telling Joe, “There’s a part of me that thinks I would crumble, [and] there’s a part of me that thinks that I would thrive in a situation like that, but that’s the whole beauty of it. Why not try to do something like that to see how you would actually be?”

With lots of ideas up in the air, to see what’s really next for Joey, keep up with the Dancing With the Stars, Bachelor, and Bachelorette star on social media @joeygraziadei. As a Survivor superfan, my fingers are crossed that he makes an appearance on season 49!