Joey Graziadei was on a high after his overnight dates … until he found a note from Kelsey A. at his door.
The 28-year-old tennis pro kicked off the Monday, March 11, episode of the ABC series with Rachel Nance, and both Joey and Rachel seemed to admit that she was falling behind his connections with Kelsey Anderson and Daisy Kent. Still, the twosome headed out on their date with the best of intentions — and Rachel, 27, ended up in the hospital after hurting her jaw while “taking a leap of faith,” i.e. jumping into the water from a high platform in Tulum, Mexico.
Joey proceeded to accompany Rachel to the hospital for X-rays despite her insisting she was “fine.” Luckily, she was OK, and the pair were still able to accept a fantasy suite date card. After waking up together the next morning, Joey told the cameras that he feels “comfortable” with Rachel, noting their life together could be “so beautiful.”
He said goodbye by saying, “See ya soon,” and she replied with, “See ya, hun.” While the exchange was sweet, it was a far cry from the L-bombs dropped on his next two dates.
Joey spent the day with Kelsey, 25, next. While on a boat, he repeatedly told Kelsey that he missed her and complimented her hair. Things took a serious turn when Kelsey opened up about meeting with The Golden Bachelor‘s Leslie Fhima ahead of their date. All three finalists had visitors from Gerry Turner‘s former contestants, but Kelsey meeting up with a still-slightly-bitter Leslie, 65, may actually affect her journey on the show, as Leslie put doubts in Kelsey’s head. (In case you didn’t watch The Golden Bachelor, Gerry, 72, picked and got engaged to Theresa Nist after basically telling Leslie that she was The One during fantasy suite week. Gerry and Theresa, 70, wed in January.)
Joey was able to (temporarily) put Kelsey’s fears at ease by sharing his own concerns about the process not working out. After Kelsey told Joey that she wasn’t just “falling in love with him” — she was fully ready to say “I love you” — he revealed he was ready to say how he felt too.
“I have wanted to express to you where my feelings are at, but, like, I can be closed off sometimes and I can hold back because they are scary feelings to share. But I haven’t had a doubt about how I’d felt about you for a very long time. Like, I’m falling in love with you, fully,” Joey said. “I’ve felt it for a while and I’m so excited about what can be and what can happen between us. … I’ve wanted to say it to you for a while. And to hear it now? I’m not waiting any longer and I wanted to let you know I am falling in love with you and I know how real it is.”
The duo subsequently spent the night together, waking up to cook bacon in their pajamas.
Joey and Daisy’s date had a similar trajectory, with Daisy, 25, leading with Sandra Mason‘s advice to go all in with Joey. After a long makeout session in an outdoor shower (and several angles of it), Joey decided to tell Daisy how he feels, as she previously said she was “falling in love” with him last week. At the time, Joey replied, “I feel the same way” — and this week, he apologized for his “stupid” response.
“You shared that you had real feelings and that you were falling in love with me, and I couldn’t tell you how great it was to hear it. I think I said that ‘I feel the same way,'” Joey said. “I have been holding back because I am scared and I’m hopeful that this will work out and I want to make sure when I say it, it holds the correct amount of meaning and I say it correctly. And I am falling in love with you, and it has been building for a while. It’s not a doubt that it’s there, it’s just how far it will grow.”
The pair spent the night together, and the next morning, in bed, they gushed about how “fun” it was to fall in love with each other.
Throughout Daisy’s date, the audience got glimpses of a spiraling Kelsey, who was still thinking about Leslie’s warning not to get her hopes up too much.
“There’s, like, a conversation that needs to be had before going into the rose ceremony. It is more pressing now than later,” Kelsey told the camera. “I don’t want to blindside Joey, ever. I just want to be honest and I want to be able to tell him everything that’s on my mind. I would rather leave now than have my heart completely broken.”
She decided to leave Joey a note that reads, “We need to talk.” Joey began to freak out shortly after opening up the letter. (On a side note, it was a nice touch for ABC to include the security footage of Joey finding the note instead of a professional setup. It almost makes you believe that producers didn’t know he would be walking up to find it. Almost!)
“I don’t understand what this is. I’m confused. I didn’t expect to see a note on my door. … Usually when someone writes, ‘We need to talk,’ it’s scary and you think it could be, ‘Something went wrong,’” Joey said as he nearly cried. “And I don’t understand what could’ve went wrong because I haven’t said anything to her. This would derail everything. … This is, like, my worst nightmare coming true. I’m over giving everything I can and feeling like they aren’t choosing me.”
The episode aired with a “to be continued” … and a near guarantee that Rachel will be going home unless Kelsey actually quits after they discuss the note.
The Bachelor airs on ABC Mondays at 8 p.m. ET.
