Turns out, competing on The Traitors was more difficult than former Bachelor Joey Graziadei initially assumed.
“You just need to tune in. It was so much fun, [but] so hard,” Graziadei, 31, said of his tenure on the famed reality TV competition while appearing on the Thursday, October 15, episode of Conner Wood and Brooke Averick’s eponymous podcast. “So different [from] what I thought it would be. You know, it’s one of those shows when you watch and you are like, ‘Oh yeah, how are they not figuring this out?’ Just watch. It’s so hard, and now I have such a newfound respect for it.”
Graziadei recently returned from Scotland, where he participated in the upcoming sixth season of murder mystery game. He played alongside the likes of Whitney Leavitt, Chloe Kim, Bronwyn Newport, Dominic Monaghan, Taylor Hale, Cody Simpson, Kristen Chenoweth and Rashad Jennings.
“I loved the cast,” Graziadei gushed. “Everyone was amazing. It was a ton of fun, and I think everyone should tune in. It’s so good. It’s good, good TV, and I can’t wait to watch. It’s one of those things I can’t wait to see it again because I want to relive it.”
Graziadei, who didn’t divulge details of his Traitors experience, noted that he spent the entirety of his Scottish getaway filming the competition.
“Pretty much the whole time you’re there, you’re there for the show, so, yeah, it’s a lot,” he acknowledged, while noting he enjoyed disconnecting from his phone and social media during production. “That’s not a bad thing. Whenever you’re on an all-inclusive show where you’re just in it, they usually take away your phone. I think that’s a healthy thing.”
Graziadei continued, “You don’t realize … your conversation is so much better when you take out the ability to, like, leave [your device]. When you’re interacting with a group, what ends up happening a lot of times is, when you don’t feel like you’re invited into a conversation, what’s the first thing you do? You grab your phone and you start scrolling.”
Without technology as a distraction, Graziadei found it easier to insert himself into a conversation and, thus, “getting to know people better.”
“You feel more open to having deeper conversations,” the Bachelor Nation alum stated. “You feel more aware and alert than you usually do.”
It admittedly took Graziadei “a second” to turn his phone back on afterward — also because fiancée Kelsey Anderson had taken control of his social media accounts.
“I did find out through someone that she was having a lot of fun with my socials,” he quipped. “Listen, I’m never going to get my socials back again. By the way, she still has access. I think we’re going to have to play a game moving forward like, ‘Was this post from Joey or was this post from Kelsey?’ I think that’s a fun game to play.”
The Traitors season 6 returns to Peacock in 2027.
