The Dancing With the Stars season 33 semifinals were a monumental night for Joey Graziadei.
Not only did he and partner Jenna Johnson earn their first perfect score and their first 10 for a Latin dance, but Graziadei, 29, made DWTS history by becoming the first former Bachelor to make it to the show’s final.
“It's unbelievable. … It was a great night,” Graziadei exclusively told Us Weekly after DWTS’ Tuesday, November 19, episode. “We knew we had two dances that we loved and just to have everything come together, to have it kind of be what it was, it's everything we've hoped for. So right now, I'm just really happy.”
While Graziadei said it’s “nice to celebrate” his and Johnson’s accomplishments, he’s already focused on the season finale. “My mind’s just thinking, ‘OK, next week, next week, gotta do it again,’” he said.
Graziadei is one of many Bachelor Nation stars to appear on the ABC competition series over the years. While Bachelorettes such as Hannah Brown and Kaitlyn Bristowe have won the competition, the men of the franchise never made it to the show’s final round — until now.
Graziadei and Johnson, 30, earned a total score of 58 points for their foxtrot and paso doble routines on Tuesday, tying them at the top of the leaderboard with Chandler Kinney and Brandon Armstrong. All five of the show’s remaining couples will compete for the Len Goodman Mirrorball Trophy next week.
Fans first met Graziadei on Charity Lawson’s season 20 of The Bachelorette before he went on to lead season 28 of The Bachelor earlier this year. He ended his journey for love engaged to Kelsey Anderson.
While the couple don’t have a wedding date set just yet, Graziadei has already recruited Johnson to choreograph their first dance. “She already has that title,” he told Us. “It does not take a mirrorball [trophy] to have that title. She has that title for everything she's done.”
Joey Graziadei and Jenna Johnson Faced ‘Ups and Downs’ During ‘DWTS’ Journey: ‘It’s a Process’
Graziadei is one of two Bachelor Nation stars featured on the current season of DWTS, including Jenn Tran, who was eliminated after last month’s Halloween Nightmares episode. However, fans have begun to campaign for Olympic rugby player Ilona Maher to take on the title of The Bachelorette for the show’s next season.
Graziadei is down with the idea and even gave Maher, 28, a lesson in handing out roses in a hilarious TikTok posted on Sunday, November 17.
“I think Ilona will do great at anything she does. And if she gets that opportunity, I think everyone knows she would crush it,” he told Us on Tuesday. “We're going to support Ilona in whatever she does moving forward. She's just the best.”
Johnson, for her part, said that she hopes Maher will find “someone who better love and adore her because she’s the best human ever.”
Graziadei went on to add: “I think that she is one of the most caring people. And it's just very obvious that when she's with someone, she's just with them fully. So yeah, it just has to be a really good person. I don't have a certain characteristic, but I will kill someone if they ever hurt Ilona. That is for sure.”
Who was kicked out during Dancing with the Stars’ semi-finals night?
No one got eliminated in the semi-finals of Dancing with the Stars.
In the semi-final rounds, pairs had to perform two different dance styles — Latin and Ballroom. Chandler Kinney-Brandon Armstrong and Joey Graziadei-Jenna Johnson emerged as the highest scorers of the week.
For the first dance, Kinney and Armstrong put forth a mesmerizing Salsa act on Jason Derulo and Michael Buble’s “Spicy Margarita.” In their ballroom routine on Foxtrot, the couple matched steps on Hozier’s “Too Sweet.” The judges were impressed and the duo gained a combined score of 58.
Further, Joey Graziadei and Jenna Johnson proved to be equally impactful with their performance on Foxtrot and Paso Doble. While they managed to receive a full 30 for their Latin routine, the pair missed the mark in their second performance. Similar to Kinney and Armstrong, the couple reigned on top with a combined score of 58. Ilona Maher-Alan Bersten and Danny Amendola-Witney Carson followed up with 57 and 54, respectively. On the other hand, Stephen Nedoroscik and Rylee Arnold were at the bottom, receiving the lowest scores of 53.
As the performances came to an end, it was time for the eliminations. However, a twist came in the form of no evictions for the semi-finale week. As a result, all pairs made it to the finale, carrying the scores and viewers’ votes for this week. For the finale week, the couples will be performing a freestyle act. It will be interesting to see which contestant will walk away with a winner’s title in the three-hour grand finale.
