'The Bachelor' finale: Joey Graziadei's journey for love ends with a proposal
Joey Graziadei's journey to find love on "The Bachelor" came to a close during Monday night's dramatic finale.
Graziadei proposed to Kelsey Anderson, a junior project manager from New Orleans, Louisiana, during the season 28 finale of "The Bachelor."
The episode also saw the 28-year-old tennis pro saying goodbye to Daisy Kent, an account executive from Becker, Minnesota.
Season 28 of "The Bachelor" kicked off in January with Graziadei meeting 32 women searching for a connection.
Graziadei and Anderson connected during their one-on-one date in Spain over their love for travel as well as over the importance of family.
During their date, Anderson opened up to Graziadei about the impact that her mom, who died from breast cancer, has had on her life. With the possibility of an engagement at the end of her journey on the show, Anderson told Graziadei at the time that being on "The Bachelor" was "hard sometimes to think about my mom not being there at my wedding."
But Anderson told Graziadei that leading up to "The Bachelor," her mom had sent her "signs" in the form of butterflies, which she said was her way of her mom "reassuring" her to embark on this journey to find love. Anderson added that her dad also said that finding love this way was something her mom would do.
Graziadei was touched by Anderson's story and their love continued to blossom thereafter.
Graziadei, who was the runner-up on Charity Lawson's season of "The Bachelorette," said he felt like his story "wasn't finished" after his time on "The Bachelorette" and was "excited" to find his person as the Bachelor.
"These last couple years have been really big for me, and I've been working on myself, and I think that's most important in being able to find your person is to be ready yourself, and I feel good," he said.
Ahead of the proposal, both Kent and Anderson met Graziadei’s family and had final dates with him. While Anderson’s week leading up to the proposal was reassuring, with a special date at the spa, Kent wasn’t feeling as confident, especially after she told Graziadei that she loved him and he didn’t say it back.
On the day of the proposal, Kent visited Anderson in her hotel room to see how she’d been feeling and her feelings about her not being the one Graziadei chooses were affirmed when Anderson told her about the experience she had with Graziadei on their final date.
In a unique moment, Kent and Anderson arrived in the same car together to the beach where Graziadei was set to propose. Kent walked onto the beach first and told Graziadei how she knew that she wasn’t the one. After sharing a heartbreaking goodbye, Kent said in the car that she was proud of herself for how she gave this experience “my all.”
“If I can love the wrong person that much, imagine how I could love the right person,” Kent said.
When Anderson walked onto the beach, Graziadei told her he loved her, got down on one knee and proposed. She said yes and he gave her his final rose.
During the "After the Final Rose" ceremony, Graziadei and Kent met for the first time since the day she left the beach, and Kent told him that she was happy for him. She also shared when she first sensed that she wasn’t the one he was going to choose. In the end, she told Graziadei that she "can’t wait to watch" him and Anderson grow and that she’ll "always look back and smile” on this experience.
Now that they’re engaged, Graziadei shared his excitement about spending the rest of his life with Anderson.
“She is a light, something about Kelsey is unique,” he said. “She gives energy fully in her own way. I don’t know how I’m going to have a boring day of life with her by my side.”
Anderson added that they are hoping to move to New York together.
"I feel like the luckiest guy in the world," Graziadei said. "I cannot wait to see what comes next."
