Kelsey Anderson Reacts To ‘DWTS’ Tribute From Joey Graziadei

Kelsey Anderson and Joey Graziadei first crossed paths on Joey’s season of “The Bachelor,” where he ultimately proposed to her, asking for her hand in marriage.

Now a contestant on “Dancing With the Stars,” Joey has won over fans with his charisma and impressive dance skills, and his upcoming performance is set to be particularly meaningful for Kelsey.

Earlier this week, “Dancing With the Stars” announced that next week’s episode will honor the individuals who hold a special place in the contestants’ hearts, and Joey Graziadei chose Kelsey Anderson as his special person.

Joey Graziadei’s upcoming performance on “DWTS” is set to be particularly sentimental for his fiancé, Kelsey Anderson. “It’s very special, honestly,” Anderson Us Weekly. “I love all his dances, but this one’s definitely gonna be extra special for me.”

Joey and his partner, Jenna Johnson, will perform a Viennese waltz to Teddy Swims’ song “Lose Control.”

“I get more nervous than him for sure, but it’s so exciting,” she said of watching her fiancé dance. “It’s so amazing to see all the work that he puts in and how everyone is just rooting him on. He’s doing amazing and he’s crushing it.”

As the competition heats up, Graziadei has shown remarkable progress, remaining neck-and-neck with fellow contestant Chandler Kinney at the top of the leaderboard.

Graziadei admitted that as he advances further in the competition, the challenges become more intense—but he’s still having an incredible time.

“It’s getting tougher and tougher every week. I think it compounds a little bit as it keeps going on, but honestly I’m making it through,” he told Us. “I’m enjoying it. I’m just trying to take it every day. But it’s been a ton of fun.”

Ahead of the competition show, Joey said he told producers that he was in “such a great place in my life with everything that Kelsey and I have built that I didn’t want to have a distraction” and how he knew fans would analyze his partnership on “Dancing With the Stars.”

“It was something I thought about coming in,” Joey said. “I wanted to be in a situation where I was comfortable that I didn’t have to worry about a lot of this noise. So, I asked when I got on the show to be paired with someone that was in a successful and healthy relationship.”

Joey ultimately got partnered with Jenna Johnson, who is married to fellow “DWTS” pro Val Chmerkovskiy.

“I think it’s very obvious that my relationship is known on the show. I mean, I have a child [and] my husband’s on the show as well,” Jenna said. “I thought, you know, people would obviously know that Joey’s engaged.”

In response to rumors suggesting that Jenna and Joey shared a relationship beyond friendship, Kelsey addressed the claims, expressing that she actually found them amusing.

“So many people are like, ‘Kelsey, why is Jenna touching your man like that?’ And honestly, I don’t know, maybe because it’s her job,” she shared in a TikTok video. “Maybe because she’s a professional dancer and she has to touch him to dance. I don’t know, that’s my understanding of it.”

She continued, “I have to have a certain level of security to go through all that, and Joey and I are still together and strong after a year of all that craziness. Joey is also the type of man to give me the security that I need or give me the reassurance that I need and deserve in our relationships.”

The nine remaining couples will perform heartfelt tributes to the influential figures and institutions in their lives on the ballroom floor.

Special guest judge Mark Ballas joins the show, while Derek Hough and Hayley Erbert will celebrate her triumphant return to the ballroom with a moving routine set to “Beautiful Things (Acoustic)” by Benson Boone.

“Dancing With the Stars” airs on ABC and Disney+ on Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET.