Last night was the “hometown” episode of The Bachelorette where the final four suitors bring baby home to meet the fam, but for at least one of the marriage-minded men, his plans may have been dashed by a well-meaning uncle.
Bachelor Joey Graziadie came in hot and happy as a puppy with a new squeaky toy, excitedly taking Charity Lawson on a tennis date in his hometown of Collegeville, PA. But once on the courts, his Uncle Joe showed up unannounced and proceeded to play not just tennis but possibly unmatchmaker.
Seems Joe’s concerns weren’t with Charity at all, but rather with the speed at which his ever-eager-to-please nephew was barreling towards betrothal. “My biggest concern with you,” Uncle Joe later told his nephew in a heart-to-heart, “is, are you portraying yourself, or are you portraying someone she wants?”
Seems Joe wasn’t alone—other family members expressed concern that young Joey was maybe being too quick to please and not being himself in the process.
And even Charity started to catch the vibe. “Do you feel like he’s in a place where he’s truly ready to be a husband and be a father one day?” she asked Uncle Joe.
Pause.
Verrrry. Loooong. Pause.
“I think he is going to be an amazing husband and an amazing dad,” said Joe. “But is he ready right now? I don’t know.”
Cue the minor-key piano chords.
As a teary Charity said to Joey as she headed for her ride at the end of the night, “It didn’t go bad, it went good.”
And is good as good as it’s gonna get? Stay tuned.
Elsewhere on the evening’s reality-show scene (spoiler alert)…
The night’s other big loser may also be its … biggest winner. That would be comedian Andy Richter, who got booted off the red planet on Stars on Mars, but he seemed pretty stoked to be going home. It was celebrity chef Cat Cora who did the booting, apparently peeved that Richter had nearly done the same to her the week before. But given Richter’s take on the competition game — “I’m just here to do things as they’re supposed to be done,” he said to cyclist Lance Armstrong as the pair was on trash-burying duty outside their pod. “If they send me home for that? Oh well! And form alliances? I’m too old for this!” Sounds like someone was prepping to jet-pack off the planet anyway.
Fame is fleeting: Meanwhile, on Claim to Fame, celebrity gene-pooler Olivia shot—and missed—with her guess that competitor Karsyn was related to NASCAR champ Jeff Gordon. For her failed efforts, Olivia’s own claim to fame was revealed — she’s the niece of Jenny McCarthy — before she was shown the door. The irony is that not a single player had even the slightest inkling Olivia’s relative was McCarthy, so she probably had a decent shot at going the distance by avoiding discovery. If you’ve been following the show, you know that not only are the celebrity kinfolk connections surprisingly A-list (Tom Hanks, Dolly Parton, Eddie Murphy) but the game itself is tougher than you might expect. After all, competitors are quite a bit younger than the famous folks they’re trying to unearth, so there’s a big generation/knowledge gap and, of course, players have no internet access to track down their hunches.
