The Bachelor runner-up Daisy Kent has revealed that something was always missing in her relationship with Joey Graziadei and she had to “force” it with him sometimes.
Daisy said she realized she was “in love” with Joey in Jasper, Canada, and then she had a “perfect” hometown date in which Joey met her family during the April 2 episode of the “Bachelor Happy Hour” podcast.
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But once Daisy met Joey’s loved ones and had her final date with him in Tulum, Mexico, she had a gut feeling that Joey wasn’t going to choose her. Daisy predicted, based on Joey’s carefully-selected words and standoffish behavior, that The Bachelor star was going to dump her and propose marriage to Kelsey Anderson.
“I think we were both feeling it and we both knew [that we weren’t right for each other], but I think it was just processing and coming to terms with it for me,” Daisy explained to the podcast’s co-hosts, Bachelor in Paradise couple Serena Pitt and Joe Amabile.
“But I think I definitely knew, and I think there was something — if I’m going to be honest — there was something always missing between us.”
Daisy admittedly felt like, in ways, she was “trying to force it to be there.”
“Because I felt like we are a lot alike in ways, but I also just felt like something was always missing between us,” Daisy recalled.
“And I think for a period of the show, I just kind of ignored it. And then when it got to the ending, I was like, ‘Yeah, I’m right. There is something missing between us.'”
Daisy, however, didn’t confront Joey about her feelings during their last night together in Tulum. Although she felt worried and down, she never flat out asked him something along the lines of, “Is it Kelsey?”
Daisy explained, “I didn’t think about asking him that. I always felt like if he knew, for sure, that it wasn’t me, that he would have enough respect for me to send me home whenever he was feeling that.”
Daisy said she “trusted” Joey to handle her heart with care.
“[I thought], ‘If he knew 100 percent it wasn’t me, he would have enough respect for me to send me home then,'” Daisy shared.
But Daisy said watching The Bachelor season back on TV gave her the closure she needed. She was able to see Joey and Kelsey’s connection, which better explained why she had finished in second place.
“I journaled every single day, and when we were in… Jasper, there was a day when me and Kelsey were sitting on a dock on the little lake there. We were just talking about so many things and then I went back to my room and started journaling,” Daisy shared.
“I was like, ‘You know, if it’s not me, I think Kelsey would be perfect for him.’ And I think I knew, because I had seen them together, you know what I mean? It’s a weird situation to be in and to process everything to.”
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Daisy said as the show aired, she read her journal entries that matched up with each week.
“I went back and read that, and I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, I kind of called it!'” Daisy revealed.
“Watching them back, you can tell they’re so in love with each other, and even now, seeing them in person.”
On The Bachelor’s Season 28 finale, when Daisy felt confident that she wasn’t going to end up with Joey, she sought out Kelsey in her hotel room to essentially compare notes about their last week in Tulum.
Daisy admitted to Kelsey that something felt “off” and seemed to be “missing” with Joey during their last date, and so she arguably spoiled the fact that Kelsey was going to be Joey’s winner.
The two women then traveled to the Final Rose Ceremony in the same van, after which Daisy gracefully bowed out of the competition before Joey could officially dump her.
“Falling in love with you has been so fun and I do love you,” Daisy told The Bachelor star at the Final Rose Ceremony. “But the thing is, you’re not going to choose me.”
Joey immediately broke down into tears, confirming that Daisy’s gut instinct was correct.
Daisy told Joey that she realized he wasn’t her “person,” and she added, “I know that you know I’m not your person. And as much as that hurts, umm, I know you said you want what’s best for me, and so I’m going to do what’s best for me — and I’m going to go.”
Joey called Daisy “special” and offered to walk her out, but Daisy decided to do that on her own.
“I’m going to miss you,” Joey cried.
“I’m going to miss you too,” Daisy responded in tears. “I’m pulling for you!”
Daisy then returned to the van and hugged Kelsey, wishing her the best.
Joey proceeded to reunite with Kelsey and profess his love to her, and the pair got engaged in Tulum.
On The Bachelor: After the Final Rose, Daisy expressed how she’s “not ready” to date again, inherently turning down a possible starring role on The Bachelorette’s upcoming 21st season.
“My life the last year has been crazy. I mean, yesterday, it’s weird, but it was the one year of me getting my cochlear implant, which completely changed my life,” Daisy explained to The Bachelor franchise host Jesse Palmer.
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“And I also went through this, and as great of an experience as it was, it was also really, really hard. I’m healthy and I’m happy, and I haven’t had those two things in a really long time,” she continued.
“And so, right now, I know it’s a time for me to focus on the things I love and the people I love. So, right now, no. I’m not ready, and that’s okay. I’m really proud of myself for realizing that.”
The Bachelorette gig ultimately went to Jenn Tran, and her season will premiere this summer on ABC.
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About The Author:
Elizabeth Kwiatkowski
Elizabeth Kwiatkowski is Associate Editor of Reality TV World and has been covering the reality TV genre for more than a decade.