Single Joey was 70 percent sure he found the one who went to his hometown

Joey Graziadei had a lot of hope for his season of The Bachelorbut he wasn’t 100 percent sure it would work out for him if he went to his hometown.

“At that point, when I went to my hometown, I was probably 70/30 [or] 80/20 [percent confident it would work] because I could see that the relationships were happening, but we hadn’t gotten to the point where someone said they’re really in love with me, if there are real feelings, if they could see a future,” Joey, 28, said on “Bachelor happy hour” podcast episode on Thursday, February 29.

He continued, “Those conversations come later and during the conversation I think what you feel is, ‘Is it going to go further?’ Because that’s the way it is now, but: ‘Is it going to come to this?’ So there will always be twenty to thirty percent doubt until you know that someone thinks the same as you.”

Joey has four more participants heading to hometown dates: Daisy Kent, Kelsey Anderson, Maria Georgas And Rachel Nance. Each woman will introduce the tennis pro to their family during the Monday, March 4 episode.

During his hometown interview, Joey noted that he would definitely ask questions of his contestant’s family members and that he “wasn’t quick to judge” if he felt like something was “off.”

“There are so many dynamics and things that can affect whether it goes well or not,” he said. “If I felt any resistance from a family member, I would want to know more and ask why. Because I think it’s important to understand and not just go along with how they feel.”

Joey said he “learned not to judge completely outside of the hometown” after his own journey home didn’t go smoothly during Charity Lawsonseason 20 of The bachelorette. (During the 2023 season, viewers were introduced to Uncle Joe, who expressed doubts about Joey’s relationship with Charity, 28.)

“I can speak from experience: the reason why my uncle pushed so much and why he was insecure is because he protected me and made me feel that way,” he said. “And I really wanted to know which person I could possibly end.” [up] with because that was the last time he would see her if that was the case.

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He continued: “The intentions were there, he was just a bit rough in the way he went about it. And I know other family members can be too.”

The Bachelor airs on ABC Mondays at 8pm ET.