Joey Graziadeiknows hisBachelorseason has gotten pretty heavy lately.
In the latest episodes, Kelsey Toussant opened up about ending her relationship with her dad over religious differences,Maria Georgasshared the details of her mom’s car accident and Lexi Young left because her infertility issues put her on adifferent timeline for kidsthan Graziadei, 28.
The Bachelor tells PEOPLE he tried to “just be there for the women” when they opened up to him.
“What’s most important is how difficult it is for them to share intimate things about themselves in a setting like this,” Graziadei continues. “My most important thing I’m focusing on is just creating the safe space, actively listening, being the person that can understand as much as they can, but more importantly, validate that their feelings. It can be difficult, but I tried my best just to make them feel comfortable.”
Graziadei felt a little down, too, telling his remaining women ahead of the latest cocktail party that he had “a tough week.”
“The root of it was what my biggest fear is, which is, at the end of this, me choosing someone and it not being reciprocated,” Graziadei said during last week’s episode. “I think you know how much I’ve been talking about how serious I’ve been taking this and it’s because I want to get to the point at the end of this where I’m super confident. And I know that I’m going to be with my person.”
Disney/John Fleenor
Graziadei tells PEOPLE that, at this point in his journey, he “was feeling the weight of the position I was in” and “questioning if I could make it through this entire thing with the real serious feelings that we’re starting to build on both sides.”
“I know people have labeled me ‘sad boy’ and they saw the emotions that week, but I’m not afraid to share when I have those bad days,” the Philadelphia native says. “I look for a partner who can understand them, comfort me through them. If they’re going to choose me at the end of this, they should see all sides of me. It’s necessary to be able to have a good relationship.”
Lexi Young and Joey Graziadei.Disney/John Fleenor
A good relationship also entails being on the same page about your futures. Young, 30, realized she had a more expedited timeline for when she wanted to get married and start a family due to her endometriosis, which may impact her ability to get pregnant. As a result, the digital strategist took herself out of the running for Graziadei’s heart.
“When I saw it was her, I understood what it was almost immediately and why,” Graziadei says. “I think she respected my honesty in my answer, but I understood that it didn’t really make sense on what she was looking for at the time. I’m glad that she had the ability to go out on her own terms.”
“There’s not a timeline that I’m stuck to,” he says. “It’s just, what I see for this entire journey and process, if I end up with someone, I’ve always wanted a long engagement because this is a quick process. I’ve always wanted the ability to have some time in your marriage to enjoy being newlyweds, and kids are something that I want once I feel like we’ve gotten those opportunities.”
The tennis pro also bid farewell to Jess Edwards on Monday’s episode after she told him she was falling for him despite not getting a one-on-one date yet.
Still, “I think her feelings, as anyone’s feelings, are completely valid,” Graziadei says. “The reason why at that point I knew I had to do what I did was because I didn’t think it was going to change with the more time that we had that week. It would’ve been wrong for me to keep her there if she was feeling something that I couldn’t see myself feeling at that point. False hope is never something I want to give.”
Joey Graziadei and Jess Edwards.Disney/John Fleenor
Graziadei hasn’t had any regrets about how he handled things on the show since he’s been watching it back. “I’m really a guy that tries as much as possible not to live with any regrets,” he says.
Seeing some of what he missed between Georgas, 29, andSydney Gordondidn’t give him any more insight about whatactuallytranspired.
“America’s still confused and feels like they haven’t gotten the understanding of where all this came from, and you’re feeling what I felt,” Graziadei says. “I realized pretty quickly that it wasn’t something I wanted to or was ever going to uncover. It seemed like a lot of drama. I think it didn’t need to be there, but it happened. I’m happy that I went with what my gut was.”
Graziadei feels he and Georgas got “back on the right track” during their one-on-one date in Montreal and he teases “something that comes up later on” with the executive assistant.
Joey Graziadei and Maria Georgas.Disney/Jan Thijs
Disney/Jan Thijs
Heading into the next leg of his journey, which includes hometowns andFantasy Suites, Graziadei says he wants “a kind person, someone who I feel like is empathetic towards me, towards others” and “someone who can picture me being a part of their family.”
“Those are a lot of the conversations I think people can expect — talking about family, talking about your real emotions, talking about if you can really see this at the end of the day,” Graziadei says. “You want to feel comfortable walking into someone’s home.”
As for how he’s handled some things off the show, the reality star feels comfortable laughing at himself.
“I knew who Gypsy Rose was,” Graziadei says ofconfusing her for the late Ruth Bader Ginsberg. “I just did not have the name correct, and I picked probably the worst name you could pick when you were talking about her. I’ll take that one all day. It was a funny moment that obviously turned into something bigger than I expected. At the end of the day, I made an honest mistake and people can have their opinions, but I’m OK with it. I never expected that whole debacle to get to the level that it did.”
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The Bachelorairs Mondays at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.
source: people.com
