The Bachelor season 28’s final couple, Joey Graziadei and Kelsey Anderson, have shared their love story with Bachelor Nation, but what was the most difficult part of their journey? Joey, who first appeared on The Bachelorette season 20 with Charity Lawson, had a difficult time taking the lead on the series where he knew he would have to make some tough, emotional decisions. While Joey may have struggled with making the more emotional calls on The Bachelor season 28, he was able to reach a decision in the end and proposed to his new fiance, Kelsey, in the season finale.

“The hardest part for me was seeing everybody talking about it afterward.”

Kelsey and Joey opened up about their love story, but in a recent episode of the Bachelor Happy Hour podcast, the couple shared the most difficult part of their Bachelor journey together. “Obviously afterward, you see social media going crazy about it all, so I think, honestly, the hardest part for me was seeing everybody talking about it afterward,” Kelsey shared. Joey explained that people jumping to conclusions was difficult for him. “[Viewers] came up with ideas or came up with storylines that were not true, but they had this little [idea] of, ‘Well that had to happen then!’”

Joey & Kelsey’s The Bachelor Journey Explained

Kelsey felt that she was able to confidently watch the season back and appreciate her love story with Joey without much jealousy. However, there were moments when Kelsey leaned on her fiance for support while seeing him date so many other women. Joey explained that he’d tried to be careful as the lead, sharing, “I did, through this entire season, always try to think through, ‘Okay, your wife is going to be watching this back someday. Let’s try your best to make sure your words have purpose and that your actions, you’ll be able to go back and explain [things].’”

Though Joey and Kelsey’s journey led them to find each other, things weren’t always easy for the couple as they were working toward their happily ever after. While Kelsey was someone Joey noticed early on in the Bachelor process, he had connected with other women as well. After having some emotional moments together where they were both vulnerable about their past experiences, Joey was confident throughout hometowns and fantasy suites that Kelsey was someone he wanted in his life. Ultimately, he chose to propose to her over Daisy Kent, who left Tulum, Mexico brokenhearted, but happy for the couple’s future.

Throughout The Bachelor season 28, viewers were consistently confident that Joey would choose Daisy, but as his connection with Kelsey grew, it became clear that their relationship was the strongest featured on the series. Joey and Kelsey have clearly made each other happy, and are excited to be moving forward together as a couple. With the pair moving into the next phase of their life together, Joey and Kelsey are thankful for their experience on The Bachelor, but happy to be moving on to new adventures together.