ABC’s Next Star Is Joey Graziadi – Variety

Courtesy of ABC

Brake alert: Don’t read on if you haven’t watched the season 20 finale of The Bachelorette with Charity Lawson, which aired August 21 on ABC.

When one door closes, another opens.

Sure enough, that mantra is true for Joey Graziadi, a contestant on “The Bachelorette” who broke his heart on national television, only to learn moments later that he had been chosen as the next star of ABC’s “The Bachelorette.”

Graziadei was the runner-up on the twentieth season of The Bachelorette, starring leading lady Charity Lawson.

Lawson’s season of “The Bachelorette” wrapped up Monday night with an emotional send-off for Graziadi, who was proposing to Lawson when she told him she finally chose another man as her fiance. (For the final recap, click here.) Through the tears, Lawson and Graziade show plenty of respect and admiration for one another, proving that Graziade might just be a mature, sensitive “bachelor.” — in other words, he got the “Bachelor Liberation,” as fans of the franchise call it.

“We’ve always said that even if we don’t love each other, we’ll always love each other,” Graziadi told Lawson Monday night, sitting face-to-face with her for the first time since they met on TV. break up. After their potential show, when Graziadie was sent home, he wept in the car, tearfully asking, “When will it happen to me?”

Well, it looks like that will happen fairly soon when production begins on the show that usually airs every January.

“This is crazy,” Graziadi said Monday night, speaking to host Jesse Palmer. “I didn’t expect this at all. I never knew this was what my life would turn into.

Graziadei was a fan favorite on “The Bachelorette.” He is a 28-year-old professional tennis player from Collegeville, Pennsylvania, who now lives in Hawaii.

On “The Bachelorette,” while discussing his family, Graziadei shared his father’s coming-out story, telling Lawson that his parents divorced when he was young after his father came out as gay.

An ABC press release announced the new star of “The Bachelor,” with Graziadei described as “looking for a life partner who is open and caring and shares his love of adventure and exploring the outdoors. He loves hiking, surfing, and ending his days by watching the sunset, but he knows he has… So much love to give, and the only thing missing is someone to share his life with.

No premiere date has been set for Graziadei’s “The Bachelor” season, but it will air in 2024.