The Bachelor featured Joey Graziadei eliminating Rachel Nance and having his emotional “talk” with Kelsey Anderson during The Women Tell All special for Season 28 that aired Monday night on ABC.
Joey ousted Rachel, a 26-year-old ICU nurse from Hawaii who currently resides in Rancho Cucamonga, CA, at the Rose Ceremony in Tulum following his round of overnight Fantasy Suite dates, leaving Kelsey and Daisy Kent as his Final 2 bachelorettes.
During the second half of The Bachelor: The Women Tell All, footage flashed back to Tulum, Mexico, shortly after Joey had received a cryptic note in his hotel room’s door from Kelsey that simply read, “We need to talk.”
Joey cried about the possibility Kelsey was going to dump him and leave the competition, and he didn’t know what this “talk” was going to entail and if the conversation was going to end with him crushed and brokenhearted.
“I don’t understand it. I’m confused… Usually when someone writes, ‘We need to talk,’ it’s scary and it could mean something went wrong. I don’t understand what could’ve went wrong because I haven’t said anything to her. This could derail everything, if something is wrong or she needs to leave or something happened,” Joey lamented to The Bachelor cameras.
“I don’t want her to leave. I want her to want to be here. I’m over giving everything I can and feeling like they’re not choosing me. I’m done doing that! This is my worst nightmare, to tell you the truth.”
Meanwhile, Kelsey said it was important to tell Joey what was on her mind because she had promised to always communicate with him and share what was on her heart.
When the pair finally reunited in Joey’s room, Kelsey explained to Joey how she wanted to openly communicate with him.
“I just wanted you to know exactly how I feel about it all, and I just really wanted to verbalize that it’s hard not seeing you, and the days in between [our dates] are so hard and all these feelings of missing you or wondering and all the crazy thoughts that are going on,” Kelsey began.
“It’s just because I care about you, and I wanted to tell you how much I miss you when you’re not there.”
Joey immediately breathed a sigh of relief, and Kelsey apologized for having scared Joey and essentially given him a panic attack.
Kelsey then told Joey that she really wanted to meet his family.
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Joey said he was so scared that he really didn’t comprehend anything Kelsey had just told him. Joey admitted that he shut down because he had spent a lot of time thinking about what could happen.
“It’s going to take time. These are real emotions. I don’t just snap out of this,” Joey shared in a confessional.
Joey proceeded to explain how he was terrified to give his heart to a woman and then not have those feelings reciprocated, adding, “It sucked I had that feeling just a few moments ago.”
Kelsey confessed that she felt “bad” for stressing Joey out and that, if she could do it all over again, she’d write the letter differently.
“It wasn’t my intention to make him feel bad or feel any stress, but he looks like he’s about to cry. Seeing him in that state, it was alarming to me because I don’t want him to feel that way. I want him to be excited to see me,” Kelsey told The Bachelor cameras.
Kelsey said if Joey ultimately sent her home, she’d be devastated and wish she had never done the show to begin with.
Right before the Rose Ceremony, Rachel told The Bachelor cameras how she was “in love” with Joey and had “fully let him in” during their overnight date, which made her extremely nervous about what was to come.
Kelsey also felt unsettled given she had upset Joey with her note and sent him into an emotional tailspin. Kelsey wondered if her actions were going to affect Joey’s decision.
Daisy just didn’t want to get hurt, and she noted how she didn’t want her two good friends to get dumped either. At this stage in the game, it was a difficult Rose Ceremony for everyone.
Joey then approached his Final 3 women and announced how he was going to lead with his heart and be honest with how he was feeling.
Joey handed out his first rose to Daisy, and The Bachelor star’s second rose went to Kelsey.
Rachel had a surprised and defeated look on her face, and she hugged Daisy and Kelsey goodbye.
Joey walked Rachel out, and tears were streaming down Rachel’s face as Joey attempted to give her some closure.
“You did everything I asked, and the worst thing I could do is keep you here if I wasn’t able to get to the point of expressing feelings of falling in love,” Joey explained to Rachel.
“I know I have love for you. I know I will always have love for you. It’s just I wasn’t able to fully get there.”
Rachel wiped tears from her eyes and sobbed as she hugged The Bachelor star, who admitted he wanted to have Rachel in his life going forward because she’s a “special” woman — even though he didn’t have feelings of love for her.
Joey just wanted Rachel to be okay because he said he cared about her a lot, but Rachel was extremely emotional and let down.
“I’m sad. I had my heart broken again,” Rachel lamented in her final words. “The fact he couldn’t love me back, it hurts because I wanted it so bad. I’ll always have love for Joey.”
Rachel called Joey a “great guy” and said their breakup hurt even more because Joey “didn’t do anything wrong.”
Rachel continued, “Naturally, I’m thinking it’s something I did because I didn’t allow myself to be open to him from the beginning. I took a huge leap of faith coming here, and it hurts more than I thought it was going to. I just really wanted it to be he and I at the end.”
Rachel then joined The Bachelor host Jesse Palmer on The Women Tell All special, and Rachel admitted it was hard to watch her breakup with Joey back. Rachel shared that as emotional as that day was, it was a beautiful moment she had shared with Joey because there was clearly love between them.
Rachel noted how she was crying “sad and happy tears” at the same time.
Rachel confirmed that she was “definitely in love” with Joey, adding, “Who wouldn’t be?! He’s amazing!”
Rachel said a part of her wishes she had opened up to Joey sooner, but at the same time, she’s proud of herself for what she was able to do and say. Rachel acknowledged how she really pushed herself and allowed herself to fall in love again.
“I have no regrets, and I think I really did open up as much as I could at the time,” Rachel told Jesse.
Joey then joined Rachel on the stage, and he told her that she looked beautiful. Rachel suddenly perked up and cheered up, and she cracked a joke about how it was “fun” watching their breakup on television.
Joey told Rachel that when she was giving him so much, it was time for him to give more and he just wasn’t able to get there with her. Joey confirmed it “wasn’t an easy moment” for him to split with her.
Rachel announced how her relationship with Joey was really fun and at the foundation, their friendship was really solid.
“We had a great time!” Rachel gushed.
“Joey taught me that I really can get what I deserve after this, but whoever I’m dating has some really big shoes to fill. I gained so much confidence in myself and I’m so sure of who I am as a woman after being with Joey.”
Rachel explained to Joey how he had pushed her to see her worth, and then the pair had an emotional hug.
But the mood changed once Rachel revealed through tears that after the hometown-dates episode aired, Rachel has been bullied on social media.
Rachel said she received “a lot of hateful messages” and “racist comments” online.
“I’ve been called the N-word and I’ve been called a Jungle Asian, all because I got a rose,” Rachel lamented. “It’s just been very frustrating… People were privately messaging me.”
Rachel said she didn’t understand why she was receiving so much backlash and negativity, and she explained how it was hard for her family to watch people attack her personally and their culture.
“Hundreds of people have messaged me, and there were TikToks about people throwing up when [Joey and I] were kissing,” Rachel cried. “It’s just insane!”
Jesse apologized to Rachel and her family that they had to endure all of that, and Joey noted how Rachel didn’t deserve any of that but she was going to spread light and positivity through sharing her struggle.
Jesse acknowledged how hate was rising on social media, and nearly all of The Bachelor cast admitted to receiving at least one nasty message from someone.
Jesse asked viewers to uplift and praise the women for being vulnerable and sharing their stories, and Joey noted how it takes courage for a person to go on a reality TV show.
Rachel concluded, “I just want to remind people that we’re not just faces on a screen and we’re not just women trying to find love. People are so quick to be keyboard warriors and pop off because there’s no consequences, but we have to pay the consequences emotionally and mentally.”
Rachel therefore begged fans “to just be kind” because words carry weight and harsh comments sometimes “hit home” for the women on the show.
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