Joey Graziadei officially started handing out roses on Monday, January 22, and Us Weekly is breaking down the biggest moments from the premiere with the Bachelor himself.
The 28-year-old tennis pro met 32 women at the Bachelor mansion, but four contestants stood out to Us: Daisy, Kelsey, Autumn and Lexi.
“I think that you picked four great girls,” Joey told Us with a smile on his face when we read him Us‘ too early final four on the latest episode of the “Here for the Right Reasons” podcast. “That’s all I can say. I think they’re all amazing and I think you’re just going to have to wait and see how those stories keep coming about.”
The Bachelor airs on ABC Mondays at 8 p.m. ET. For more from Joey, listen to Us Weekly‘s “Here for the Right Reasons” podcast or keep reading:
The Limo Entrance
After watching the premiere, you may have gathered that Joey is simply too nice to pick a least favorite limo entrance — despite the several tennis puns to choose from.
“I’m not going to give you a least favorite. That’s just mean, and they all just did the best they could. I know how much pressure is put on that,” he told Us before giving a shout-out to Lauren, who brought two beers for them to shotgun. “I’ll pick a different one from my favorite. I love the shotgun. I’m a guy that likes to have fun. I’m standing there for a long period of time. I get little water breaks here and there, but that was a good little refresher to chug a beer. So I think Lauren took the cake with that one. That was a fun idea.”
Lauren Disney/Richard Middlesworth
The Sisters
Speaking of Lauren, 28 … she was joined by her youngest sister, Allie, 26, on night one. And while Joey liked her limo entrance, it was Allie that got the kiss from Joey, much to Lauren’s dismay. Both got roses, with Allie getting called first at the rose ceremony — and Lauren getting called last.
“It’s a difficult situation. I obviously put two and two together on my own when I was in the whole process of it because I could tell how much they had similar stories,” Joey told Us of meeting the sisters. “They obviously look alike too. For me, it was always I was gauging my energy off of theirs, so I was trying to make sure they were OK and if they were comfortable with it, even though they knew it was going to be a little awkward, I was going to be as comfortable as I could. The whole situation is weird, dating that many women at once. When you add that wrinkle too, it’s still going to be weird. But I think that what I try to do is just follow their lead. That’s the best I could answer it.”
Allison Disney/Richard Middlesworth
Drama With Jess
Joey got his first taste of drama when Jess told the other women that she scored the first kiss and then stole Joey from Taylor.
“I think the biggest thing about night one is you meet so many women, and I’ll be honest, my plate was full enough that house dynamics aren’t something I pay attention to just quite yet,” Joey told Us. “That night is all about connection, meeting people, trying to see if there’s something that you can at least put your time and energy into and want to learn more about. So house dynamics was not something I was focusing on that night. It was just meeting the girls.”
Lea’s Mystery Date Card Leads to the 1st Impression Rose
During Charity Lawson’s After the Final Rose, Joey met Lea, and host Jesse Palmer gave her a special date card to hold onto until night one. Fans (and Lea herself) learned on Monday that she had the power to steal a one-on-one date from any contestant up until hometown dates. The 23-year-old opted to burn the date card to keep things fair, impressing Joey enough to earn the first impression rose.
“I think it’s something I might’ve done myself too,” Joey told Us. “She was dealt a tough hand. She had to be in a very difficult spot from the beginning, have a lot of pressure on her, and she handled it with grace and showed who she was, and I just think had great character through it all. I just really liked that she was not thinking about herself in that moment. That’s a big thing you’ll hear me say throughout this season is that I’m looking for someone that’s very caring, selfless in that way, and she showed that from the beginning. And I don’t know how I would’ve acted because I would’ve been definitely afraid to get a card like that, but I would hope to have handled it with as much grace as Lea did.”
The Kissing of It All
Joey may not go down as the Bachelor who kissed the most women on night one (Peter Weber reportedly passed that crown to Zach Shallcross last season), but he did get some makeouts in. And while one contestant, Maria, felt like he was kissing too many people for her liking, that didn’t stop her from kissing Joey when she got one-on-one time.
Maria Disney/Richard Middlesworth
“That whole idea, it’s weird. It’s different. I didn’t have any expectations. I didn’t try to come in with a number or, again, put too much pressure on it,” he told Us of rules for himself for kissing on night one. “I’m a big ‘going off the feeling’ type of person, and I just kind of had moments of if it felt like it made sense or if it didn’t, and I’ve spoken up before that. I think that’s a really big part of creating intimacy and figuring out if there’s a connection with someone. So it was always trying to be respectful and understanding. I never wanted to be something that was a big deal with the other women. It’s probably one of the weirdest parts of this that it’s just accepted to be doing that, but it’s a big part of a relationship in general, and I did have multiple relationships throughout the show, so I handled it the best way I could.”
