Why Bachelor Joey Graziadei Thought Kelsey A. Would Say No to His Proposal

Joey Graziadei got a happy ending with Kelsey Anderson on the season 28 finale of The Bachelor, but he had some doubts going into their proposal.

“I think any guy as soon as they get down on one knee has that thought in the back of their head, like, ‘Is she gonna say yes?’” Joey, 28, admitted on the Tuesday, March 26, episode of the “Bachelor Happy Hour” podcast. “So I did think that for a second, but yeah, we were in a good spot at that moment, so I felt good.”

While the proposal played out perfectly on camera, Kelsey, 25, had some behind-the-scenes trouble. “It’s funny, whenever I was actually walking up to Joey at the end, I couldn’t find him,” she confessed. “I was looking everywhere. I was like, ‘Where is he?’”

Joey said Kelsey’s lack of direction was “why I had some doubts, because she wasn’t looking at me,” adding, “I was like, ‘This is gonna be bad,’ all of a sudden, she’s, like, not making eye contact.”

Kelsey went on to joke, “I couldn’t find him. I was like, ‘Where am I walking? And then, finally, I found him.”

The Monday, March 25, season finale saw Joey pop the question to Kelsey during a romantic proposal on the beach in Tulum, Mexico. “I have known for a while that I’ve wanted to have a beautiful life, but I truly didn’t know how beautiful that life could be until I met you,” he told her.

The emotional moment came after Kelsey surprised Joey with a note that read, “We need to talk,” after their fantasy suite date. Kelsey explained her reason for the note on the show’s March 11 episode, stating, “I just wanted you to know exactly how I feel about it all. I just really wanted to verbalize that it’s hard not seeing you and the days in between are always so hard. All these feelings of, like, missing [you] and wondering. … I just want to tell you how much I miss you when you aren’t there.”

However, the note threw Joey for a loop, leaving him feeling “confused” about where they stood after their conversation. Despite the drama, he selected Kelsey as one of his final two women along with Daisy Kent. During Monday’s After the Final Rose special, Daisy revealed she knew she wasn’t The One after seeing how Joey and Kelsey interacted after the final three rose ceremony.

“There was a moment … I just saw you two look at each other and I was like, ‘Whoa,’” she confessed. “For the first time I was like, ‘I don’t think it’s me.’ I just remember that.”

Although she didn’t get her happily ever after with Joey, Daisy, 25, has nothing but well-wishes for the happy couple. “I can’t wait to watch you and Kelsey grow, and from the deepest part of my heart, I’m so extremely happy for the both of you,” she told Joey during their AFR reunion.

During AFR, Kelsey revealed that she and Joey plan to begin their post-show life by moving to New York City this summer.