The Bachelor star Joey Graziadei has revealed if he set rules for himself going into The Bachelor, such as no sex -- following in Zach Shallcross' footsteps -- or avoiding the words, "I love you."
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On Ben Higgins and Clayton Echard's The Bachelor seasons, the men professed their love to multiple women, which resulted in messy breakups and jealous winners at the end.
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And on Zach Shallcross' season of The Bachelor, he made a no-sex rule in the Fantasy Suites as to not further complicate his Final 3 relationships, but the women didn't think it was fair of him to decide, on his own, how things would or would not progress.
Joey opened up about whether he tried to follow any rules during his The Bachelor stint on a recent episode of the "Bachelor Happy Hour" podcast co-hosted by Bachelor in Paradise spouses Joe Amabile and Serena Pitt.
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"I didn't talk anything about the sex rule. I stayed away from that as much as possible. I think my overall general thing that I tried to do was make sure my words had meaning," Joey explained.
"I didn't try to have something just come out, out of nowhere, like, 'If you feel something, just say it.' I really tried to think through everything I was saying, and obviously that comes into play with the whole love conversation."
Joey revealed that he was very careful about when -- and to whom -- to profess his love.
"[I tried] to understand the difference of 'falling,' and 'falling in love' -- and the difference of saying you're 'in love.' This is the first time in my life I've realized there are steps to that, and it makes sense when you go through it," Joey said.
"But initially, [I was like], 'Isn't it the same thing?' It's not. And being aware of how you say it and what you say, I think, is really important."
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Joey claimed he "tried to do the best" he could to make sure that he handled those situations "correctly" and "just trusted" what he felt.
"But no, I didn't have a [gameplan of], 'This is the rule I need to follow.' I just, again, wanted my words to have a lot of meaning behind them," Joey explained.
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Joey admitted that expressing himself when The Bachelor got deeper into the process became more difficult because he felt "more comfortable" around his remaining women but also wanted to be more intentional with his declarations and praise.
"Things come out more naturally, and you sink into it, almost. And that's great. It makes it easier to express, but you know how real the feelings are too," Joey told Joe and Serena.
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"So I was very aware that I was never leading someone on or sharing too much. [I didn't want] to give something where it seemed like I was making promises that I couldn't keep during this."
Joey therefore said he was always cognizant of how much of his heart he was spilling out to the women.
"So it was easier to be emotional and tell your true feelings, but I was definitely being aware of what I was saying. You just have to!" Joey recalled.
"You never want to give these women false hope, and I think that's the hardest thing in this position."
Joey reiterated how it was natural to gush to one of his bachelorettes because he was "having real feelings," but at the same time, he had to remember he "could only choose one in the end if everything works out."
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"If you give false hope," Joey noted, "you're going to be hurting yourself later on."
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Going into The Bachelor's next March 4 episode, Joey still has Daisy Kent, Kelsey Anderson, Maria Georgas, and Rachel Nance in the running for his heart.
The Bachelor star confessed that worrying about his bachelorettes' emotions while trying to navigate the end of his journey to find love was "a lot" and burdened him with quite a bit of weight on his shoulders.
"The emotional side of [the show] was probably the thing that I didn't expect," Joey acknowledged.
"I thought it would be weird with the physical cheating in your head, where you're kissing multiple people and it's all understood."
Joey concluded how "the emotional part" of filming the show "was the hardest thing" for him.
"To be having these really in depth and deep conversations, sharing parts of your life, opening up who you are as a person with multiple people -- that's what felt most like cheating to me, in a way," Joey shared.
"I know it wasn't because we all agreed on it, but that mindset is what carries the weight. It's a lot for them to be opening up and for me to. There was weight to it. No doubt there was weight to it."
On the next The Bachelor episode, it appears Joey will have to face some tough questions from family members as the bachelorettes will also have to face their feelings and confront of the possibility of getting hurt in the end.
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELOR' FRANCHISE COUPLES NOW: WHO IS STILL TOGETHER?? (PHOTOS)
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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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