Host Jesse Palmer tries to remain neutral on The Bachelor, but that doesn’t mean he wasn’t emotionally invested in Joey Graziadei’s journey.
After the season 28 hometown visits, which aired on Monday, March 4, Jesse, 45, revealed that Kelsey Anderson’s return to New Orleans pulled at his heartstrings.
“I cried watching Kelsey’s talk with her dad!” Jesse confessed to Entertainment Weekly on Tuesday, March 5, noting, “It’s now so easy to understand what qualities Kelsey is looking for in her potential husband, because those are the same qualities and feelings that her dad has towards her mother.”
Jesse called the father-daughter conversation “truly heartwarming.”
Kelsey’s hometown was the first one fans watched on Monday, and it had an added layer of emotion since her mother, Denise Anderson, died in 2018 after battling breast cancer.
When Joey, 28, came to town he met Kelsey’s dad, Mark Anderson, and two of her three siblings, Matthew and Taylor Anderson. (Her older brother, Pascal Anderson, is in the military.)
“My feelings for her are real and they do make sense. I’m extremely hopeful, I really am,” Joey told Mark during their one-on-one conversation. Kelsey’s dad responded by saying he expected Joey to “be a protector” for his daughter.
After giving Joey his stamp of approval, Mark told the cameras, “I feel very, very happy, and it was wonderful to see Kelsey and to see Joey and the connection they have.”
Mark noted that ultimately, the choice is up to his daughter. “I think a man deserving of Kelsey is the one she picks,” he gushed, adding that he could tell Kelsey had feelings for Joey. “I do hope she’s engaged when she comes home,” Mark said.
Kelsey, for her part, experienced a roller-coaster of emotions during her hometown date. “I wish that she could meet Joey,” Kelsey, 25, said of her mother after she saw butterflies while riding a bike with Joey through New Orleans. Kelsey previously revealed that butterflies remind her of her late mom.
She shed a few tears during her confessional, saying, “My mom would love Joey.” While the trip home was bittersweet, Kelsey revealed she wanted to “blurt that I love him” while talking with Joey but chose to keep those feelings quiet.
Even though Kelsey didn’t express her love for Joey verbally, she was given a rose during the rose ceremony. Daisy Kent and Rachel Nance also received roses, while Maria Georgas was sent home.
Joey explained he had “doubts” after meeting Maria’s family, so he chose to let her go.
The Bachelor airs on ABC Mondays at 8 p.m. ET.
