The Bachelor alum Joey Graziadei has opened up about how his Dancing with the Stars stint presented challenges for his relationship with fiancee Kelsey Anderson.

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"It was difficult at times. I think she probably was open about that with you guys, too," Joey, 29, said on the Wednesday, January 8 episode of "The Squeeze," referring to Kelsey's previous appearance on The Lautners' podcast.

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Joey ended up winning Dancing with the Stars' 33rd season with his pro partner Jenna Johnson late last year, but their chemistry on and off stage backfired when fans would criticize them for being too close or flirty with one another.

"There was a lot of outside opinion at the beginning," Joey noted, even though Jenna is also in a happy relationship with her husband and fellow Dancing with the Stars pro Val Chmerkovskiy.

"And there's a lot of stuff you can't control... There were very unique and rare things that really put a lot of strain."

Joey admitted his run on Dancing with the Stars "was never a walk in the park," and he elaborated, "It's literally just because of timing."

Joey competed on Dancing with the Stars not long after his engagement to Kelsey aired on The Bachelor's Season 28 finale in March 2024.

"I would have loved -- especially in this important beginning time in our relationship -- I would have loved to have been able to put so much more time into it than I physically could have," Joey confessed.

"The way I always described it for her -- and tried to explain it for myself, too -- is it felt like when I was teaching tennis as much as I possibly could, when you're on court for 40 hours a week and you're on the entire time."

Joey said it requires a lot of effort and energy to talk to people and give "every single version" of yourself.

"When you go home, the last thing you want to do is be 'on' again," Joey noted.

"It's not like I had to be 'on' in our relationship. But I have to be giving [Kelsey] attention, I have to be making sure that I'm there fully."

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Kelsey apparently wanted the fun-loving and bubbly version of Joey when he returned home to her after rehearsing but he was often out of steam.

"If I came in the door and I wasn't fully excited, I needed to explain why," the former The Bachelor star recalled.

"But I was still doing a two-step in my head, like, I didn't even know where I was at the time. That was the hardest part, initially."

But Joey explained how taking a few minutes for himself to decompress after rehearsals really worked for The Bachelor couple.

"I would say, 'Kelsey, I need 5-10 minutes to forget what was in my head with dancing. I need a reset zone, and then I want to hear all about your day,'" Joey shared.

Despite its challenges, Joey said Dancing with the Stars was "the coolest experience" he's ever had.

Joey also gushed on "The Squeeze" how Kelsey was "so amazing and so understanding" during the season.

"I tried to be the best communicator I could, and I think [Dancing with the Stars] made our relationship even stronger at the end of the day, which is one of the things I'm most grateful for from the experience," Joey gushed.

"We always continue to choose each other, because we know this is what we want. And we're trial-by-fire learning quickly about each other, too, and I'm so grateful for that. I feel like I know her so well."

Joey said he has "no doubt" his relationship with Kelsey is going to work but it "takes a lot of effort," especially when they put themselves in "weird situations, like being on two reality shows" back to back.

Kelsey, for her part, repeatedly defended Joey during the Dancing with the Stars season, assuring fans that she wasn't jealous of Jenna or the pro dancer's dynamic with Joey.

Joey had even attempted to avoid "any noise" from the get-go by requesting a single Dancing with the Stars pro partner going into the show.

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Joey said that he thought being paired with a married woman or someone in a committed relationship would protect his relationship with Kelsey.

Things clearly didn't go according to plan, but Joey previously insisted he and Jenna had a "brother and sister" type of relationship. 

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About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski

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