Lexi Young has explained the unique way in which she was cast on Joey Graziadei's season and the former The Bachelor star she almost dated.

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Lexi, who was just shown quitting Joey's season on Monday night's The Bachelor episode, shared her casting story during the February 15 episode of the "Bachelor Happy Hour" podcast co-hosted by Bachelor in Paradise spouses Joe Amabile and Serena Pitt.

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"It's a bit of a long story, but long story short, I was originally supposed to go on, and went through the casting process, for [Peter Weber]'s season," Lexi revealed.

Peter starred on Season 24 of The Bachelor, which filmed in late 2019 and aired in early 2020.

However, it took Lexi another four years to finally appear on the show -- and she's apparently grateful for that considering she's had health issues for years and battles endometriosis, an incurable disease for which she had surgery in 2019.

"When I look back, I wouldn't have been ready to do that, at that point in my life and age, so I'm so glad that it happened when it did," shared the 30-year-old digital strategist from Atlanta, GA.

"But I had just had my endometriosis surgery [when I was 25 or 26] so it wasn't the right time for me with filming... Going on the show wouldn't have been possible."

Although Lexi missed her chance to meet Peter, she wasn't about to give up on The Bachelor in general once she felt healthy enough to compete for a man's heart on national television.

"I got in contact with a producer and they told me it was going to be Joey, and I was like, 'This is so serendipitous. I think he's such a great guy, and I just turned 30 -- so why not?!'" Lexi recalled on the podcast.

"So it's kind of crazy that [I went from] Peter to Joey. The whole thing was just, kind of, full circle."

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Peter's The Bachelor season ended with the pilot proposing marriage to Tennessee model Hannah Ann Sluss, but he broke off the engagement while his season was airing in early 2020.

After a February 2020 hookup with The Bachelorette's Season 15 star Hannah Brown failed to reignite a spark between the former lovers, Peter briefly reunited with his The Bachelor frontrunner Madison Prewett -- who quit during her final date with Peter -- when they filmed The Bachelor: After the Final Rose.

However, Peter and Madison announced two days later they were going to go their separate ways.

Peter went on to date another one of his The Bachelor contestants, Kelley Flanagan, but they broke up in February 2021 and he currently appears to be single.

For Lexi's part, she decided to quit The Bachelor while the cast was in Montreal, Canada because she and Joey had different timelines in mind for marriage and having children.

Lexi, who had her eggs frozen less than two weeks before appearing on Joey's The Bachelor season, may not be able to have children of her own due to the disease in her reproductive system.

While Joey told Lexi that he definitely wants to have kids, he said he'd like to have a two-to-three year engagement and then be married to his wife for a couple of years before bringing a baby into the picture.

Lexi, meanwhile, would like to start a family as soon as possible since she may have trouble conceiving. She is also due for another endometriosis surgery in the near future.

Lexi recently shared of her situation on Instagram, "My doctor wants me to have my second surgery as close as possible to the time I want to try to start conceiving."

"Having a third or fourth surgery later on," she continued, "could cause a lot of scar tissue. I am kind of in a place right now of a waiting game. I'm in a lot of pain. I'm not in a place to have children right now. I am hopefully going to be there soon, but I just can't have the surgery at this moment."

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When Lexi broke up with Joey, she unexpectedly showed up at his hotel room in Montreal and explained how his timeline for having children was not something she had the privilege of doing due to her health crisis.

"As someone who has infertility, I have to take that really seriously as I date, knowing I'm in my thirties now. [Having a kid] is something that's going to have to happen at a little bit of a faster pace for me," Lexi explained to The Bachelor star.

Lexi therefore concluded, "I think it would be unfair of me to [have you] keep me here when I'm just on a different timeline."

Joey admitted he was "stunned" by her decision to leave him. He told Lexi that he'd never forget their one-on-one date in Malta and, up to that point, he had zero doubts that he could see a future with her.

"I never felt scared when you said that," Joey insisted to the bachelorette. "If anything, the only thing I felt... was, 'Does that mean she needs to have kids now? Because I need to get my head wrapped around that.'"

Lexi was very emotional when dumping Joey, who admitted he was "crushed" by the news.

"I hate this. This isn't what I had in my head of what I thought was going to happen... But you're going to get everything that you want, and you're going to make a remarkable mother," Joey told Lexi.

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Click here to learn more about Joey's The Bachelor bachelorettes or click here to read spoilers that reveal how Joey's season ends and who he picked as his winner.

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About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski

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