Daisy Kent has revealed that she almost quit Joey Graziadei's season of The Bachelor on the very first night of filming.
ADVERTISEMENT
|
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELOR' FRANCHISE COUPLES NOW: WHO IS STILL TOGETHER?? (PHOTOS)
On her The Bachelor casting, Daisy said during a recent appearance on the "Bachelor Happy Hour" podcast, "I actually was making TikToks like a year ago just about my cochlear implant and my process of getting it, and a producer -- someone in casting -- saw one of my TikToks that had gone viral."
"They DMed and reached out to me, like, 'Would you ever be interested in going on The Bachelor?'" she shared. "And I was like, 'Maybe.'"
Daisy said she told producers "yes" after learning Joey was going to be the show's star.
But the Minnesota native admitted signing on for The Bachelor was "definitely" a hard decision to make.
At the time, Daisy had recently recovered from a years-long battle with Lyme disease, which resulted in the bachelorette slowly losing her hearing.
Daisy was also still learning how to hear and communicate with the new cochlear implant she had received in Spring 2023. (The Bachelor's 28th season filmed in Fall 2023, even though it didn't premiere until January 2024 on ABC).
"I had a lot of conversations with my parents about it, too, just because I already had gone through a ton of stress because of that, just the whole process and learning how to hear in a different way," Daisy explained.
Daisy acknowledged how she "knew it was going to be hard" filming The Bachelor because she was going to be around people she had "never met" before.
"So I couldn't really focus on their mannerisms, and I didn't know anyone," Daisy said.
"And so I also talked to the producers a lot too, and I said, 'I don't know how this is going to go for me.'"
FOLLOW REALITY TV WORLD ON THE ALL-NEW GOOGLE NEWS!
Reality TV World is now available on the all-new Google News app and website. Click here to visit our Google News page, and then click FOLLOW to add us as a news source!
Daisy went on to drop a bombshell, recalling, "And actually, the first night when I walked in, I was like, 'I don't think I can do this.' And I actually talked to a couple of the producers. I was like, 'I think I need to leave. I don't think I was ready for this yet just because of all the noise.'"
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELORETTE' COUPLES NOW: WHOM DID 'THE BACHELORETTE' STARS AND THEIR BACHELOR PICKS ULTIMATELY END UP WITH?! (PHOTOS)
But The Bachelor producers ultimately convinced Daisy to stay and give her relationship with Joey a real shot.
"Everyone was so comforting," Daisy said. "They found ways to make me more comfortable, so that was great. Yeah, it definitely was a hard decision, but now I'm so happy that I did it."
Daisy was also thrown into the deep end right away, as Night 1, according to many former contestants, is the longest and tiring night of the whole process.
"[Production] definitely kept reassuring me. They were like, 'This is going to be the hardest night for you. Also you're going in, you don't know anybody and you're meeting this guy you never met. And all of the girls are going for the same guy, so that's intimidating too,'" Daisy said.
"So that first night, I was like, 'Oh my gosh.'"
Daisy reiterated how her time on The Bachelor almost ended just a few hours into filming during an April 4 appearance on "The Viall Files" podcast hosted by Season 21 The Bachelor star Nick Viall.
ADVERTISEMENT
"And the night I walked into the mansion, I said, 'I can't do this. I don't think I should be here.' I talked to [two producers] and said, 'I think it's too early for me right now.' And they told me it was going to be the hardest night for me," Daisy said.
"It was overwhelming and crazy, and I literally couldn't hear anything. I went outside and all of the girls... probably thought I was so rude because I kept walking away."
Rachel Nance, one of Daisy's good friends from The Bachelor to this day, apparently did, in fact, think Daisy was rude at first.
"[Rachel] was like, 'Yeah, this girl is kind of rude, but I kind of dig it,'" Daisy recalled with a laugh.
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELOR' COUPLES NOW: WHO DID 'THE BACHELOR' STARS AND THEIR BACHELORETTE PICKS ACTUALLY END UP MARRYING? (PHOTOS)
But Daisy said she's glad she hung in there because she "loved" her experience on The Bachelor. Both she and Rachel also ended up going very far in the process.
Rachel finished in third place after Joey's overnight Fantasy Suite dates, and Daisy was Joey's runner-up behind Kelsey Anderson.
The Bachelor's Season 28 finale on March 25 featured Daisy and Kelsey meeting Joey's family and having a final date with him in Tulum, Mexico.
At that point, Daisy predicted that she wasn't going to end up with Joey.
Daisy therefore sought out Kelsey in her hotel room to essentially compare notes about their week.
Daisy admitted to Kelsey that something felt "off" and seemed to be "missing" with Joey during their last date, and so she arguably spoiled the fact that Kelsey was going to be Joey's winner.
The two women then traveled to the Final Rose Ceremony in the same van, and Daisy gracefully bowed out of the competition before Joey could officially dump her.
ADVERTISEMENT
Joey immediately broke down into tears, confirming that Daisy's gut instinct was correct.
Daisy told Joey that she realized he wasn't her "person," and she added, "I know that you know I'm not your person. And as much as that hurts, umm, I know you said you want what's best for me, and so I'm going to do what's best for me -- and I'm going to go."
Joey called Daisy "special" and offered to walk her out, but Daisy decided to do that on her own.
"I'm going to miss you," Joey cried.
"I'm going to miss you too," Daisy responded in tears. "I'm pulling for you!"
Daisy then returned to the van, hugged Kelsey, and wished Joey's winner the best.
Joey proceeded to profess his love to Kelsey, and the pair got engaged. They are still together now and planning to move to New York City this summer.
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELOR' FRANCHISE COUPLES NOW: WHO IS STILL TOGETHER?? (PHOTOS)
Interested in more The Bachelor news? Follow our Bachelor Nation News Page on Facebook or join our The Bachelor Facebook Group!
About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski