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Who are Joey Graziadei’s dads? 'Bachelorette' fans ask whether '2 gay men too controversial for ABC' as couple not present for hometown date

Joey Graziadei revealed to Charity Lawson that his parents got divorced when he was a child after his father came out as gay

FORT LAUDERDALE, FLORIDA: The hometown dates of ABC's 'The Bachelorette' are here and fans can't wait to watch what transpires between Charity Lawson and her last four suitors. Charity met Joey Graziadei, Xavier Bonner, Aaron Bryant, and Dotun Olubeko's families. Charity was having a terrible time with Joey's family in the July 31 episode. What irritated fans the most was that she did not get to meet Joey's fathers during the hometown date.

Charity accompanied Joey to his hometown in 'The Bachelorette' 2023, and it was not her favorite this season. While Charity was delighted to meet Joey's family, his family seemed to have some difficult questions for her right away. Charity even revealed her feelings about Joey's hometown before the episode aired. Fans were left upset as Joey's parents were left out of the Monday episode.

Who are Joey Graziadei's fathers?

Cathy Pagliaro and Nick Graziadei are Joey's parents. We know Joey enjoys golf, something he shares with his father Nick. Nick turned 59 in 2022. He was born in the summer of 1963. In Fort Lauderdale, Florida, he works as a real estate consultant and contractor. Joey's father and his husband live in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. While his mother is from Green Bay, Wisconsin, and currently resides in Oaxaca City, Mexico. In early July, Joey discussed his choice to tell his father's coming out story on the show. He told Charity the story and then addressed it publicly.

Joey spoke about it on the 'Bachelor Happy Hour' podcast, where he discussed his father's coming out story in detail. During their time on the show together, he told Charity the story. He knew he needed to talk about it, but he wanted to make sure he did so at the correct time. He picked a moment and ran with it. Family is essential to him, and he knows Charity feels the same way, so what better way to bond than by discussing family? Joey said that his parents separated when he was a child after his father came out as gay. He realized he needed to have a serious and crucial chat with Charity. He talked to his father about it before going on the show to make sure he was cool with Joey mentioning his story.

"It’s something that’s affected me, but it’s really his life," Joey explained. "I had that conversation with him, and he was comfortable and trusted me on how I would talk about it, and it would be shared in the right light," he added. Joey was delighted he got to have the complete chat rather than risking bringing it up on a group date and being stopped before he finished.

"My dad is one of my favorite people in this world, and I talk to him about everything," Joey ended. "So when explaining who he is as a person, it’s part of him, and it’s something that needs to be talked about more and not so refrained from or worried to talk about. It just felt like the right moment at that time."

'Joey has 2 gay dads but they brought in uncle MAGA'

Naturally, when the ABC show didn't feature Joey's dads on the hometown episode, fans took it personally and slammed the network on Twitter. One person tweeted, "When u were looking forward to joey’s hometown purely for gay dads and u don’t get to see any gay dads." Another person noted, "we aren’t getting both of joey’s dads???? i’m distraught." Others complained, "You telling me joey has 2 gay dads but they brought in uncle MAGA." Another person chimed in, "i cant believe that instead of both of joey’s dads we got this s**t stirrer."

One person also wrote, "I hate I didn’t meet Joey’s dads because his family is the only one I didn’t like much although his sister is great. Charity can’t lose with the others. I’ve never seen a situation before where the families are just phenomenal. Kids will be loved unconditionally." Another user questioned, "WHY DON’T WE GET TO MEET JOEY’S 2 DADS??? sorry, were 2 gay men too controversial for ABC?" One person further complained, "WE DID NOT GET TO SEE THE DADS and Joey’s family doesn’t give me good vibes." 

Tune in to ABC every Monday night at 8 pm ET/PT to catch new episodes of 'The Bachelorette' Season 20.