After getting engaged on "The Bachelor," Joey Graziadei and Kelsey Anderson spoke to Business Insider about their couples therapy and more.
John Fleenor/Disney/ABC
Joey Graziadei and Kelsey Anderson's love story is just getting started.
Tennis pro Graziadei gave Anderson his final rose and proposed to her on the season 28 finale of "The Bachelor" Monday night. But their relationship milestone took place months ago in Tulum, Mexico, and the couple has been guarding the spoiler as closely as Marvel actors protect plot twists.
"We've been waiting for this moment," Graziadei told Business Insider on Wednesday, in a joint interview with his fiancée. "It's been everything we could ask for and more. There's been so much love and support, and now we're just excited to further our own story."
Even though Graziadei and Anderson quickly connected and bonded over the course of 'The Bachelor," navigating their relationship without the constraints of the reality TV show is a whole new challenge. A first step on that journey is learning more about each other through therapy, they told BI.
John Fleenor/Disney
The season 28 premiere marked a series high for "The Bachelor," accumulating 7.70 million viewers across ABC and other streamers in delayed viewing — the show's best viewership since Matt James' season finale in 2021, TheWrap reported.
As fans tuned in every week to see Graziadei narrow down his search for his forever person, the show continued to set new records for "The Bachelor" and the franchise as a whole.
Week four's trip to Malta landed a season-high of 5.9 million viewers from three days of delayed viewing, Variety reported. Week nine's fantasy suites episode nabbed 6.3 million viewers across three days of delayed viewing — becoming the most-watched episode of The Bachelor," "The Bachelorette" and "Bachelor in Paradise" since 2022, per Variety.
Even though Graziadei and Anderson's connection was undeniable to millions of fans who tuned into "The Bachelor," not all of their big moments made the final cut of the show — like their first kiss, which happened after the paint battle group date during week two.
"I wasn't feeling the best after or during our paint battle date, so I was eating some crackers and hydrating," Anderson recalled. "I was getting lightheaded, and Joey came in and checked on me and our first kiss was there. My mouth was full of crackers, and it was just a really sweet moment."
"It was kind of the beginning of all of it," Graziadei added. "That was a really special moment that, obviously, we know it was special, but would've been awesome to see too."
Jan Thijs/Disney
Since getting engaged, Graziadei and Anderson have continued getting to know each other on a deeper level through couples therapy.
Graziadei said that they wanted to be proactive about pursuing counseling now, instead of when conflicts arise. He said that through couples counseling, they've come to understand that they have different communication styles.
"It was really big for us because we didn't want to do it when we were in a bad spot," Graziadei said. "We wanted to do it when we were in a good spot and learn more about each other."
One of the central focuses of season 28 of "The Bachelor" was Graziadei's fear that he'd choose someone and his feelings wouldn't be reciprocated. Now that he's overcome that hurdle, he's confident about his future.
"Kelsey's given that reassurance time and time again, how much she is going to choose me every day," he said.
They're still adjusting to living out their relationship in public and part of that challenge includes moving to New York this summer, a city that Anderson has longed to live in.
"I think that we have a really great foundation," Anderson said. "I think neither of us has lived with anybody before, so that's something exciting that we're ready to tackle."
